Another Typical Week for a NiceGirl

Last week I had the chance to attend the Paley Center’s salute to the 100th episode of the CBS comedy How I Met Your Mother. As a non-watcher of TV comedies, this event might seem like an odd event for me to attend; but as a long-time fan of Alyson Hannigan (dating back, obviously, to her days on Buffy, the Vampire Slayer) and rediscovering the talent that is Neil Patrick Harris (thanks, in great part, to his role in the Joss Whedon internet sensation Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog) and the fact that in the current world of TV reaching the landmark of 100 episodes is rare indeed, I jumped at the chance to be part of this unique event.

The audience was treated first to an introduction of the 100th episode by the creators of the show – Carter Bays and Craig Thomas – and then the episode was shown, which was rip-roaringly fun to watch and very entertaining to see Neil Patrick Harris as Barney dance and sing in a suit.

Appearing at the event were the entire cast – Josh Radnor, Alyson Hannigan, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders and, of course NPH himself – Neil Patrick Harris. Also on the stage were Pamela Fryman, long-time director of nearly all of the episodes of the series, and the creators.

A complete write up of the event can be found here at NiceGirlstTV by our very own Tiffany.

Also starting this past week was the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour, which has been getting a lot of coverage by bloggers and entertainment writers alike all over the net and on Twitter. NiceGirlsTV should be providing a round-up of the FOX presentation, which was to take place yesterday, via Louise, who has, once again, been invited to attend the “fete”.

It is always interesting to see what each network has to say about their upcoming new schedule; talk about what worked and what was not so successful and what new ideas we can expect down the line. Of course, the big talk has been the resounding lack of success with the prime-time airing of the Jay Leno show with NBC recognizing the failure of this “new” programming idea to work with the viewing audience. Leno’s last show will be on February 12 and the viewers can only hope that NBC can get their programming back on track and somehow dig themselves out of the fourth place ranking that has been commonplace at the network for too long.

And thankfully, with the end of the holidays, the start of the mid-season schedule will be upon all of us, starting this week with many of the network shows returning with new episodes and some summer programs coming back with new episodes to complete their new seasons. Among the shows returning this week, I was excited for the return of Castle on ABC and Chuck on NBC last night; and I look forward to the next-to-the-last episode of Dollhouse, the return of 24 and debut of Human Target all on FOX, the return of Leverage on TNT and the two-hour finale of Sanctuary on Syfy. It’s going to be a very fun television-viewing week that’s for sure.

With the return of new episodes, what shows are you most looking forward to seeing again?

Having a Blast; NiceGirls Style

This past week I had the chance to attend two unique and fun events very much in line with the ‘celebration’ of Halloween. On Wednesday, I attended the Paley Center for Media’s look Inside the Writers’ Room of the fan favorite HBO series True Blood. You can see my full write-up on the panel itself at both True-Blood.net and SciFiTVZone.com sometime this week.

As a regular viewer of the show – and I have to preface this with the fact that I’m not a fan of the show (per se) even though it is a cult favorite and a good guilty pleasure series – it was interesting to learn the inner workings of the talented writers on this series.

The audience was appreciative of Executive Producer Alan Ball and his staffs’ work and the careful details they provided for Season 3. While they were rather elusive on specifics, it was fascinating to learn their process and get a behind-the-scenes look at how True Blood is put together.

On Friday night, I attended the Second Annual Halloween Charity Screening of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog as well as the screening of the entire second season of the internet series The Guild, starring Felicia Day which was coordinated by the folks behind Whedonopolis.

Felicia Day made a special appearance at the event and while we all would have loved for Nathan Fillion or Joss Whedon to have been in attendance, it was nice to know they are hard at work on their respective shows, Castle and Dollhouse.

Much like my write-up for the True Blood event, you can read my full article about the charity screenings via SciFiTVZone.com, also, sometime this week.

Next week I will be going to another event at the Paley Center for Media: this time a retrospective on the WB hit series Dawson’s Creek with expected appearances by James Van Der Beek, Meredith Monroe, Busy Phillips as well as Creator/Executive Producer Kevin Williamson.

Next Saturday I was supposed to attend an in-store appearance at Barnes & Noble by the cast of the new FOX musicomedy Glee. But, I recently learned wristbands were to be given out at 9 AM this morning; and given the fact that my friends and I (who were going to make the Glee appearance a group event) all have to go to our day jobs, so the Glee event won’t happen after all: much to our chagrin and disappointment.

Lastly, a few weeks from now Creation Entertainment will be holding their annual Firefly and Serenity convention, featuring guest appearances by Nathan Fillion, Morena Baccarin, Adam Baldwin, Alan Tudyk, Mark Sheppard and Yan and Rafael Feldman. This event is always fun and entertaining; and I’m sure this year will be no different.

Such is the life of a NiceGirl in California and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Helping Put People Together

Friday night, while attending a screening of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-Long Blog and season two of The Guild with friends, I did two things I’m not used to doing: I facilitated two different groups talking to people they’d missed before at other events. My friend Hollywood Jane has often been near Joss Whedon, but never talked to him, despite her love of his collective works. Some of her friends had walked past two Dollhouse cast members at Comic-Con, but didn’t say anything either.

Before the screenings on Friday started, a group of us went over to talk to Dichen Lachman and Enver Gjokaj, explaining the situation about the Comic-Con experience gone awry and talked about parts of the previous week’s Dollhouse, before being fannish and asking for a photograph. (The result is quite scary, as our group was too spread out and poor Dichen looks like a disembodied head at the bottom.)

The screening and question and answer session brought up some of the same pieces of information I’ve heard several times before, but after the event, I saw Whedon leaving the venue, so I took Hollywood Jane with me to make the introduction that she’d never had.

By the time I could make the introduction, I had to give the reason he might remember me (it’s a bad story from Comic Con during The Guild panel and calling him a Corey for wearing sunglasses inside) before actually letting Jane talk to him. The conversation was brief, but at least she can now share a story of the time she finally talked to Joss Whedon.

Should you want to read her story about that experience, you can find it here.

TV Around LA

The life of a TV fan in Los Angeles is never dull. It’s easy enough to spot an actor walking around town, but it’s equally as easy to see actors talking about their work at numerous other locales.

For me the next few weeks are going pretty busy, with the added bonus of being really entertaining. Friday, the Egyptian Theatre is sponsoring an event featuring Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog and The Guild, followed by a conversation between Felicia Day and Joss Whedon (schedules permitting). I can only imagine what those two will have to talk about together, but that’s what comes with these events.

Two weeks after, Whedonopolis, a site dedicated to all things Whedon, is sponsoring its second annual showing of Dr. Horrible. Last year’s event included some of the creative team and cast talking before the screening as well as plenty of fun (this event welcomes fans to sing along and to dress up).

Lastly, the inner teenager in me doesn’t want to wait for next event. In celebration of Dawson’s Creek being available as a complete series on DVD, the Paley Center will host a night with creator Kevin Williamson (with additional guests pending) to discuss the show’s influence.

Needless to say, there will be plenty of material for columns from these events, as they always leave an impression.

Dollhouse at Comic Con

Warning: Spoilers ahead for “Epitaph One”!

Joss Whedon, as Adam Baldwin put it on Saturday, is “a Comic Con god.” I don’t think that’s an understatement given the reaction to Dollhouse’s thirteenth episode, “Epitaph One”, and the way everyone reacted to the forty-five minutes that followed the episode. Without a moderator, the panel took the form of questions from the large crowd in Ballroom 20.

At the start a fan yelled, “Can we get answers?” before Whedon gave a cryptic reply about not really wanting to answer that one. The first official question asked if either Victor or Whiskey/Dr. Saunders would ever be “fixed” from their less than perfect states. Whedon confirmed that it will happen at some point, and added that he’d like to hire the questioner to the writing staff.

Next Whedon joked “I met him” when someone asked why he cast Alan Tudyk as Alpha, before giving a longer answer about Tudyk’s  Shakespearean readings that cemented the role.

Another fan asked what Whedon was reading, and he replied back with “Julie and Julia”, before going into a Julia Child impression.

Dushku was asked which character she liked playing the most, and she responded with a few of the characters from various points in the season.

Still inspired by his past cast members, Felicia Day’s appearance in “Epitaph One” came from a suggestion of Sarah Fain, one of the Dollhouse writers/producers. Whedon went on to say that Alexis Denisof will appear in an episode this season, and “if the stars align, a little Glau.”

A male fan asked Dushku what sort of person she might have been if she weren’t an actor, but Whedon beat her to the punch by responding with “ a missionary”, cueing much fan applause.

Following that a fan complained about how Whedon has a tendency to kill off her favorite characters. Whedon wanted to know who her favorite Dollhouse character was, but she declined to comment for fear of losing him/her. He finally answered that he either didn’t like people, or that he kills characters because of the story (or, in some cases, as the contract allows).

Issues of ethical treatment of the dolls will be addressed, at some point. Since the dolls, as property of each house, and can die, the issue of what happens to that original personality is germane. Whedon revealed that Inara, in Firefly, was in fact dying, but that wasn’t why she had the syringe.

Whedon cautioned that the future as seen in “Epitaph One” is not necessarily what we will see happen on the show. The memories from those imprints might not be true, but the future from that episode will inform the show. On a related note, the three remaining characters at the end of “Epitaph One” will be in the premiere this season.

When one fan asked about the planet names in an episode of Firefly had any reference to The Tempest, Whedon called himself “the laziest man alive” in part because he also created an Illyria.

Whedon confirmed that there will be a Dr. Horrible sequel at some point, though no date was given.  Dushku then segued nicely into Dichen Lachman and Fran Kranz coming up on stage for the remainder of the panel.

Whedon’s writing process was hard to capture from his quote, but he did mention a large board with broad comments about each character – such as “is whipped”, “is a doll”, etc. -  as well as little heads of each character for the dart board.

The context has been lost on my audio recording, but there was a very fun jab at Heroes for the feudal Japan storyline from Book Two. That received a good laugh from the audience. [Melissa's note: I believe the quote was, "I think that as long as we don’t send anyone to Feudal Japan, we’re pretty much okay.”]

The next question went to a little girl who asked “Echo” if she was going to be in season two of Dollhouse after talking about a movie Eliza is planning to shoot. Joss quipped with a “talkie” joke, after Dushku explained that the movie will not conflict with shooting Dollhouse.

Towards the end a question was asked about the similarities between the Reavers and the controlled zombies from “Epitaph One” before talking about other similarities between some aspects of Serenity and Dollhouse. Later, the final question asked about the theme of big corporations and their intents. Whedon came back with a long answer about the way in which these companies manage to get everyone to want what we might not need.

Thoughts on Paley Fest 09

This will be a look at random thoughts through my first three panels for this year. Since I’m eating, breathing and living in Hollywood for the next two weeks, it will have to do (also, I’m pretty sure PaleyFest is going to be responsible for my DVR filling up for no good reason.)

I’d love it for all episodes aired to be the next one to air on my TV. I got spoiled for a few points in 90210 because the episode aired is airing on the 21st. Wait to ruin some of the surprise.

Much as I’m sure the actors prefer them to questions about their musical preferences, questions that focus too much on the process of being an actor fail to excite me. Unless I’m talking one on one and I can understand how they use a specific technique, I’m just not that interested.

I know people who live in LA can (and do) attend PaleyFest, but it’s odd when someone things it’s odd for people to travel from out of state. I’m sorry, fandom will make you travel plenty of places outside of your state. Pointing it out isn’t cool. (Do we need to start rules of fandom a la the rules of Fight Club?)

Leavin’ On a Jet Plane…

Ah, airplane food. It may not taste that great, but at least it signifies that you’re going somewhere! As I type this, I’m on a Midwest flight bound for Los Angeles where the Nice Girls will be spending the week covering events at PaleyFest and working on some other goodies to share.

Tonight we will be covering the True Blood panel for True-Blood.net and reveling in seeing our favorite humans, vampires, and others on stage along with Alan Ball. Tuesday night we’ll get the latest scoop on Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog (will the sequel be announced?), then we’ll get a second dose of Joss Whedon on Wednesday at the Dollhouse panel. Thursday we get a break, then we finish out the week Friday night with the cast and creative team from The Mentalist. Get the scoop on those panels here at NiceGirlsTV.com and by following us on Twitter.

In the meantime, be sure to check back tomorrow for our latest giveaway (speaking of jet planes…) and don’t forget to watch Chuck tonight on NBC!

Whedon’verse Alum Take Over TV

It’s no secret that Joss Whedon is a hero here at Nice Girls HQ. As if pimping Dollhouse for months prior to its debut wasn’t enough of a clue, we have a (possibly annoying) habit of gleeing over various Whedon alumni whenever we encounter them on the airwaves or in real life (see: Comic Con). So you’ll understand that I really have no choice but to dedicate this week’s column to all of the Whedon alumni who are currently working on pilots or actually have TV shows on the air at this very moment.

Currently on TV

Eliza Dushku
Formerly: Faith, Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel
Now: Echo, Dollhouse
Number of Whedon Projects to Date: 3

Amy Acker
Fomerly: Fred, Angel
Now: Dr. Claire Saunders, Dollhouse
Number of Whedon Projects to Date: 2

Summer Glau
Formerly: Prima Ballerina, Angel; River Tam, Firefly/Serenity
Now: Cameron/Allison, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Number of Whedon Projects to Date: 2/3*

Nathan Fillion
Fomerly: Caleb, Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Captain Malcom Reynolds, Firefly/Serenity; Captain Hammer, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-Long Blog
Now: Rick Castle, Castle
Number of Whedon Projects to Date: 3/4*

Adam Baldwin
Fomerly: Jayne Cobb, Firefly/Serenity
Now: Major John Casey, Chuck
Number of Whedon Projects to Date: 1/2*

Alyson Hannigan
Fomerly: Willow, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Now: Lily, How I Met Your Mother
Number of Whedon Projects to Date: 1

David Boreanaz
Fomerly: Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel
Now: Seeley Booth, Bones
Number of Whedon Projects to Date: 2

Michelle Trachtenburg
Fomerly: Dawn, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Now: Georgina, Gossip Girl
Number of Whedon Projects to Date: 1

Felicia Day
Fomerly: Vi, Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Penny, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-Long Blog
Now: Codex, The Guild
Number of Whedon Projects to Date: 2

Mark Sheppard
Fomerly: Badger, Firefly
Now: Tanaka, Dollhouse; Jim Sterling, Leverage; Romo Lampkin, Battlestar Galactica
Number of Whedon Projects to Date: 2

Neil Patrick Harris
Fomerly: Dr. Horrible, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-Long Blog
Now: Barney Stinson, How I Met Your Mother
Number of Whedon Projects to Date: 1

Coming Soon to TV

Anthony Stewart Head
Fomerly: Giles, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Now: Uther Pendragon, Merlin (coming to NBC this summer)
Number of Whedon Projects to Date: 1

Sean Maher
Fomerly: Simon Tam, Firefly/Serenity
Now: Drop Dead Diva (coming to Lifetime this summer)
Number of Whedon Projects to Date: 1/2*

Sarah Michelle Gellar
Fomerly: Buffy Summers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Now: The Wonderful Maladys (pilot for HBO)
Number of Whedon Projects to Date: 1

Morena Baccarin
Fomerly: Inara, Firefly/Serenity
Now: Anna, V (pilot for ABC)
Number of Whedon Projects to Date: 1/2*

Alan Tudyk
Fomerly: Wash, Firefly/Serenity
Now: Drew, Untitled David Kohan/Max Mutchinick Project (pilot for ABC)
Number of Whedon Projects to Date: 1-3**

Did I miss anyone? Do you have scoop on a Whedon alum who may be returning to our TV screens soon? Leave a comment below and let me know!

*Technically, Firefly and Serenity are two different projects. However, the movie is obviously a continuation from the series, so it’s up to you to decide how to number them.

**SPOILER WARNING: Alan Tudyk may be in another Whedon project, but that is currently unconfirmed. Sort of. It’s complicated.

PaleyFest’09 Official Lineup Released

The Paley Center for Media has released the official lineup for PaleyFest’09, and it includes several Nice Girls faves:

• It’s Always Sunny in Philadephia
  Friday, April 10 at 7:00 p.m
  In Person: Danny DeVito (“Frank Reynolds”), Glenn Howerton (“Dennis Reynolds”/Executive Producer/Writer), Rob McElhenney (“Mac”/Creator/Executive Producer/Writer/Director), Kaitlin Olson (“Sweet Dee”). Additional panelists to be announced.
• 90210
  Saturday, April 11 at 7:00 p.m.
  In Person: Panelists from the cast and creative team to be announced.
• True Blood
  Monday, April 13 at 7:00 p.m
  In Person: Alan Ball (Creator/Executive Producer), Ryan Kwanten (“Jason Stackhouse”), Stephen Moyer (“Bill Compton”), Anna Paquin (“Sookie Stackhouse”), Sam Trammell (“Sam Merlotte”), Rutina Wesley (“Tara Thorton”). Additional panelists to be announced.
• Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
  Tuesday, April 14 at 7:00 p.m
  In Person: Felicia Day (“Penny”), Nathan Fillion (“Captain Hammer”), Jed Whedon (“Bad Horse Chorus #2/Dead Bowie”/Composer/Writer), Joss Whedon (Creator/Executive Producer/Writer/Director), Zack Whedon (Executive Producer/Writer).
• Dollhouse
  Wednesday, April 15 at 7:00 p.m.
  In Person: Joss Whedon (Creator/Executive Producer/Writer/Director), Eliza Dushku (“Echo”), Enver Gjoka (“Victor”), Fran Kranz (“Topher”), Dichen Lachman (“Sierra”), Harry Lennix (“Boyd”), Tahmoh Penikett (“Paul”), Olivia Williams (“Adelle”).
• The Big Bang Theory
  Thursday, April 16 at 7:00 p.m.
  In Person: Kaley Cuoko (“Penny”), Johnny Galecki (Leonard), Jim Parsons (“Sheldon”). Additional panelists to be announced.
• The Mentalist
  Friday, April 17 at 7:00 p.m.
  In Person: Simon Baker (“Patrick Jane”), Bruno Heller (Creator /Executive Producer) Tim Kang (“Kimball Cho”), Chris Long (Coexecutive Producer/Director), Amanda Righetti (“Grace Van Pelt”), Robin Tunney (“Teresa Lisbon”), Owain Yeoman (“Wayne Rigsby”). Additional panelists to be announced.
• Desperate Housewives
  Saturday, April 18 at 7:00 p.m
  In Person: Panelists from the cast and creative team to be announced.
• PaleyFest09 Special Matinee Screening Event: Pushing Daisies’ Last Unaired Episodes
  Sunday, April 19 at 1:00 p.m
  Introduction by Bryan Fuller (Creator/Executive Producer).
• Battlestar Galactica/Caprica
  Evening Sponsor: Microsoft Zune
  Monday, April 20 at 7:00 p.m
  In Person: David Eick (Executive Producer), Ronald D. Moore (Executive Producer). Additional panelists to be announced.
• The Hills
  Tuesday, April 21 at 7:00 p.m
  In Person: Tony DiSanto (Executive Producer), Adam DiVello (Creator/Executive Producer), Liz Gateley (Executive Producer), Heidi Montag, Audrina Patridge, Spencer Pratt. Additional panelists to be announced.
• Big Love
  Wednesday, April 22 at 7:00 p.m
  In Person: Ginnifer Goodwin (“Margene Heffman”), Bill Paxton (“Bill Henrickson”), Chloe Sevigny (“Nicolette Grant”), Harry Dean Stanton (“Roman Grant”), Jeanne Tripplehorn (“Barbara Dutton Henrickson”). Additional panelists to be announced.
• Fringe
  Thursday, April 23 at 7:00 p.m
  In Person: Joshua Jackson (“Peter Bishop”), John Noble (“Dr. Walter Bishop”), Lance Reddick (“Homeland Security Agent Phillip Broyles”), Anna Torv (“Special Agent Olivia Dunham”). Additional panelists to be announced.
• Swingtown Celebration
  Evening Sponsor: Netflix, Inc.
  Friday, April 24 at 6:00 p.m. at The Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills
  Festival Closing Reception & Panel Discussion
  In Person: Mike Kelley (Creator/Executive Producer), Alan Poul (Executive Producer). Additional panelists to be announced.

The Nice Girls plan to attend several of these panels. Which panels will you be attending?

Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible Head to PaleyFest!

Hey, we never said we’d only do one Dollhouse post a day. It’s Dollhouse Week, we can post as many as we want! And this was just too good not to share – Dollhouse and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-Long Blog are going to PaleyFest ‘09!

The Paley Center for Media has just announced that they will present Joss Whedon’s highly anticipated return to television, Dollhouse and an additional panel celebrating his pop-web phenomenon Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog at this year’s twenty-sixth annual William S. Paley Television Festival (PaleyFest09). So far Joss Whedon, Nathan Fillion, Zack Whedon, Felicia Day, and Jed Whedon are slated to attend with additional members of the cast and creative team from both series to be announced shortly. The complete schedule for PaleyFest09 will be announced on Wednesday, February 18, 2009. The two Joss Whedon projects join the previously announced Fringe (Fox) and True Blood (HBO) at this year’s Festival.

The Nice Girls’ itinerary for PaleyFest is filling up quickly!

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