PaleyFest 2013 Is Coming

PaleyFest is coming, PaleyFest is coming.

This weekend will start the annual fete known as PaleyFest 2013 that is coordinated by the Paley Center for Media, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

If you aren’t familiar with the Paley Center for Media by now, you should know that the center was founded by pioneer radio-turned-TV man William S. Paley in 1975. Paley created what went on to become the major network known as CBS. He pioneered many of the practices that gave first radio and then television network broadcasting their distinctive shape and extraordinary reach.

The Museum of Broadcasting (as the Paley Center was originally known) opened in New York City in November of 1976. This was the first public institution to offer the history of broadcasting to the general public. Twenty years later in March of 1996, the Museum of Television and Radio (the new moniker for the organization) opened to the public in Los Angeles.

In June of 2007, the Museum of Television and Radio was changed to the Paley Center for Media in honor of Mr. Paley and was a leader in the discussion of cultural, creative and social significance of television, radio and emerging platforms for the professional community and media-interested public.

In regards to the Paley Fest, otherwise known as the William S. Paley Television Festival, the event celebrates television’s rich and diverse programming and the creative process behind the medium and has done so since 1984.

The event has been held at a number of locations throughout Los Angeles since that time with the more recent locations including the Director’s Guild and the Arclight Theatre in Hollywood. Over the last few years, however, the Paley Fest has been held at the Saba Theatre in Beverly Hills.

This year’s 30th anniversary event will feature the following panels:

March 1 is the opening night of the event with the cast and crew of the AMC zombie fest The Walking Dead taking the stage. Among the scheduled panelists expected to be there are executive producer Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, Dave Alpert and Greg Nicotero along with cast members Andrew Lincoln, Danai Gurira, Laurie Holden, Steven Yeun, Norman Reedus, Scott Wilson and Emily Kinney. The moderator for this panel will be Chris Hardwick, who is the host of The Talking Dead.

On March 2, the new NBC post-apocalyptic drama Revolution will be on the stage, featuring cast members Billy Burke, Tracy Spiridakos, Giancarlo Esposito, David Lyons, Danielle Alonso and JD Pardo as well as series creator and executive producer Eric Kripke. The moderator for this event will be Michael Schneider, the LA Bureau Chief at TV Guide Magazine.

The following day, March 3, Once Upon a Time cast members Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Morrison, Robert Carlyle, Lana Parilla, Josh Dallas, Colin O’Donoghue and Emilie de Ravin along with series creator and executive producers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz will make a return appearance at the annual event with Matt Mitovich, Editor-At-Large at TVLine.com will be the moderator.

That same day (later in the evening), the new HBO drama The Newsroom will be on the stage with moderator Piers Morgan talking to Aaron Sorkin, series creator and executive producer and Alan Poul, Executive Producer as well as cast members Jeff Daniels, Emily Mortimer, Sam Waterston, John Gallagher, Jr., Alison Pill, Thomas Sadoski, Olivia Munn and Dev Patel. There are some additional guests expected to be announced.

A couple days later on March 5, the fan favorite NBC comedy Community will feature cast members Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Yvette Nicole Brown, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie and Jim Rash (as well as some additional guests to be announced) and executive producers Russ Krasnoff, David Guarascio, Moses Port and Tristram Shapeero. A moderator for this event has yet to be announced.

Over the course of the next few days, the following panels will take place:

March 6 – The New Normal with creators and executive producers Ryan Murphy and Ali Adler as well as executive producer Dante Di Loreto and cast members Andrew Rannells, Justin Bartha, Ellen Barkin, Georgia King, Bebe Wood, NeNe Leakes and Jayson Blair.

March 7 – Parenthood will hit the stage with cast members Peter Krause, Lauren Graham, Dax Shepard, Erika Christensen, Monica Potter, Sam Jaeger, Mae Whitman, Jason Ritter, Joy Bryant, Miles Heizer, Max Burkholder and Sarah Ramos (plus some additional guest) as well as executive producers Jason Katims and Larry Trilling. Michael Ausiello, Founder and Editor-In-Chief of TVLine.com will serve as moderator.

March 8 – The Mindy Project with series creator Mindy Kaling along with executive producer Matt Warburton and cast members Chris Messina, Ed Weeks, Zoe Jarman, Ike Barinholtz and Beth Grant with Rob Moynihan, LA Correspondent for TV Guide Magazine will be the moderator.

Next weekend will feature a double header on March 9 with both Nashville and Arrow on tab for the whole day. Among the panelists for Nashville will be series creator and executive Callie Khouri and executive producers R.J. Cutler and Dee Johnson as well as cast members Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere with additional guests to be announced and Debra Birnbaum, President and Editor-in-Chief from TV Guide Magazine as moderator. The panelists for Arrow will include cast members Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, David Ramsey and Susanna Thompson as well as executive producers Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg.

The final week of PaleyFest 2013will feature the cast and creative team of the TNT reboot of the classic soap opera Dallas. That panel, set for March 10, will feature executive producers Cynthia Cidre and Michael Robin as well as cast members Patrick Duffy, Linda Gray, Jesse Metcalfe, Josh Henderson, Jordana Brewster, Julie Gonzalo and Brenda Strong. Will Keck, Jr., Editor and Columnist at TV Guide Magazine will serve as moderator.

The next day, March 11, the much-buzzed-about FOX comedy New Girl will be featured with cast members Zooey Deschanel, Max Greenfield, Jake Johnson, Lamorne Morris and Hannah Simone along with creator and executive producer Elizabeth Meriwether and executive producers Dave Finkel and Brett Baer taking the stage with TV Guide Magazine’s LA Correspondent Rob Moynihan acting as moderator.

On March 13, the long-running and popular CBS comedy The Big Bang Theory will take the stage with series creators and executive producers Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady and executive producer Steven Molaro as well as cast members Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar and Mayim Bialik in attendance.

The following night, March 14, 2 Broke Girls will be featured with cast members Kat Dennings, Beth Behrs, Garrett Morris, Jonathan Kite, Matthew Moy and Jennifer Coolidge as well as series creator and executive producer Michael Patrick King on stage.

The final date of the two-week long event will be the creep-fest that is the FX series American Horror Story: Asylum. Cast members expected to appear are Frances Conroy, Evan Peters, Lily Rabe and James Cromwell (as well as additional guests to be announced. Co-creators and executive producers Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk and executive producers Tim Minear and Dante Di Loreto will also be on hand with Tim Stack, Senior Writer for Entertainment Weekly as moderator.

You can learn more about the Paley Fest by visiting the official Paley Center for Media website here and you can learn more about this year’s Paley Fest here.

NiceGirls TV will be providing coverage on a number of the panels, too, so be on the lookout for those here soon.