2010 Winter TCA

I know we've all been waiting and waiting for some new episodes of The Vampire Diaries, and there are just a few days to go! Now that we've seen a sneak peek of what's to come, here are a few fun quotes I got from the big three — Ian Somerhalder, Paul Wesley, and Nina Dobrev — at the Winter TCA. First take a peek their sexy new Nylon cover, then check out the highlights where they dish on werewolves, alter egos, and upcoming episodes:

• Paul on whether or not we can expect werewolves: "I know that in the books that happens, but it hasn't been confirmed. It's been insinuated, and if you want my personal opinion, I think it would be fantastic."
• Nina on what we can expect from Katherine: "There's going to be an episode soon where you see a lot more Katherine. And you see how crazy she is, and how everything she does is for herself. Like boys, and how she likes to use them for her toys. They're just there for her amusement."
• Paul on Stefan's dark side: "I want to explore that. I think he indulged as a vampire for a little bit. And now, if things don't go his way, and Damon gets his girl, and things are coming to an end, he may have to resort to violence and some malicious activity."
• Ian on what he wants to see from Damon: "I told Kevin [Williamson], I need to find Katherine soon. This brooding, not eating people, not having a lot of power Damon is killing me. I want to be munching. I want power. I want to be flying. I want to be eating people. And I want to be having a blast."

To see what else Nina had to say about what's in store for Katherine and what Ian would be doing if he wasn't an actor, just read more

You probably recognize Katee Sackhoff from her iconic role as Starbuck on Battlestar Galactica, but the actress is ready to keep her feet on the ground as a newcomer on 24. Sackhoff will be playing Dana Walsh, a CTU analyst with some skeletons in her closet. Season eight kicks off its big season premiere tomorrow night, and I recently had the chance to chat with Katee about her character, Kiefer Sutherland, and why she still hasn't seen Avatar. Here are highlights:

• On landing her new part: I was excited. When it was presented to me, I had another offer to do a TV show at the same time. As a fan of 24, I was so curious. I dug a little deeper and talked to the producers about it, and obviously I had auditioned for it. Ultimately it was such a great move for me, creatively and career-wise. I just kind of jumped at it, it was fantastic. And I continue to be excited about it, it's great.
• On the sense of camaraderie on the set: It's all like a big family. 24, if there's anything they do well, it's welcome new cast members. They have so many new cast members that come on every single season that they're very good at it. Especially Mary Lynn [Rajskub], she's like "Hey, welcome aboard, I hope you don't die!" So, it's great. I've learned over the years to treat this as a job and not get too caught up in it and emotionally attached to anything. It's difficult but it has served me well on 24, because you never know what's comin'. I'm very aware that my place on 24 and in this business is finite.
• On keeping things light on the set: Kiefer has Air Supply "All Outta Love" on his cell phone. So every time it rings, we hear Air Supply. That kind of starts it. Like, at one point we all broke into song. So it's great. Kiefer is a very, very, very funny man. I know that on the panels he doesn't show that side of him, but he is absolutely hysterical and everyone on the show has a great sense of humor. It's pretty easy to have fun.

To see what else Katee had to say about loving sci-fi fans and leaving Battlestar in the dust, just read more

The TCA is fun for lots of reasons: not only to do I get to chat with some of my favorite stars (like Alison Brie and Joel McHale!), but I also get a peek at the new shows that the networks are cooking up. Now that we've recapped panels on Showtime, The Vampire Diaries, Lost, and Parks and Rec, let's turn our attention to the newcomers. Here's a rundown on what I'll be watching, what I'll be passing on, and what I'll have to wait and see about.

• At the top of my list are Parenthood and The Deep End. I'm sure you've heard about Parenthood by now, especially since it was originally supposed to be part of the Fall schedule. The second pilot with Lauren Graham in Maura Tierney's spot is a little lighter, which I think is a good move on the part of the showrunners. Plus, I'm a sucker for Peter Krause (who threw a jab at Dirty Sexy Money during the panel) and I'm interested to see how the star-studded cast members play off each other.
• As for The Deep End, I'm just excited to see a legal show that's all about the young'uns (well, and Billy Zane). ABC's new dramedy follows a group of fresh-out-of law school newbies as they take on their first big cases. Naturally, they're all good looking, and hookups ensue. It looks kinda like Grey's Anatomy for lawyers, so I'm not surprised it'll air before the hospital drama while FlashForward is on hiatus.

To see which shows I'm a bit unsure of, just read more

Joel McHale wasn't the only Community cast member I chatted with at the 2010 Winter TCA. I also was lucky enough to talk to adorable Alison Brie, who pulls double duty as Annie on the show and as Trudy on Mad Men. Brie gushed about how much fun she has on the set of Community, mentioning that Annie will be getting a new love interest on the show (yay!), and also dishing on her hopes for Trudy. Here are highlights:

• On Community: We're having so much fun, I can't even tell you. I drive to work every day — Danny Pudi, for Christmas, amongst other gifts, he gave us a mix CD of music from the show, and inspired by . . . so I've been listening to it in my car on the way to work, and I'm such a jerk to other people sitting in traffic going to these jobs that they hate, and I'm like "I love my job! I'm so happy to go to work!" We're just having the best time.
• On the atmosphere on the set: It's such mayhem all the time. We won't shut up. Everybody talks and jokes constantly. It's like kids on a playground. It's great. It really trickles down into the episodes. They let us have our fun onset and through that, our jokes in between takes, we're working in little things that are making their way into the next takes. It's amazing. I love these people, we all felt instantly connected after we shot the pilot, and now after five months of working together I think we feel even closer. It's amazing.
• On working with Joel McHale: You can't keep a straight face around Joel because he is ready to make fun of your outfit, or your hair, or your taste in music at any time. And you just want him to, because he's so charming.
• On the next season of Mad Men: I can't even begin to imagine what's going to happen on that show. I just want to still be involved. I would love to see Trudy trying to help out in the new office and it being a disaster. It was great to shoot the finale and shoot that scene where she brings them all sandwiches.

To see what Brie had to say about working with Jack Black and upcoming guest stars, just read more

I was ultracurious about how former Friend Matt LeBlanc would do on Showtime's scripted comedy Episodes when the project was announced a couple months ago. Lucky me, that curiosity was sated at the Winter TCA, when Showtime debuted a promo for the show.

Though it doesn't include any actual footage from the the series, this satirical clip shows LeBlanc being forced to audition for the role of a lifetime: himself. And you know what? It's pretty hilarious. If this an indication of the irreverence that Episodes will display weekly, count me in. I'm also really digging the salt-and-pepper hair LeBlanc's rocking, not to mention his reaction to finding out that he's actually the show's punchline.

The Winter TCA is still going strong, but let's backtrack a bit to recap highlights from two beloved shows. One of the more lively panels of the weekend was with the cast and showrunners of Parks and Recreation. Now that they're midway through their second season, creator Greg Ellis, Amy Poehler, and the rest of the cast joked about how they finally found their niche and why we shouldn't expect any crossovers in the near future. Meanwhile, Kiefer Sutherland lightened up the 24 panel with jokes about going through airport security and revealed that he's game for more seasons of the show. Here are highlights:

• The creators of Parks and Rec admitted that the show needed some time to find its footing, but other major changes helped: notably, toning down Poehler's character (their new motto is "More Knope, Less Dope") and keeping Chris Pratt on as a series regular.
• Amy shared a few thoughts on the show's success: "What’s been nice is there has been a slow build of our show in many ways, and certainly the critical response, including some of the people probably in this room who we are very grateful for, have helped people take a second look at the show, and that’s felt very — very satisfying and very genuine. And so we’re kind of just hoping, of course, that that continues, that that word of mouth and the people that like our show like other things and they’ll come and find it."
• Fun episodes to look forward to: Tom will bond with Justin Theroux's character over a love of fashion (apparently Tom's love for polo shirts and the like was Aziz Ansari's idea). Also: we'll finally get a peek at Leslie Knope's home and, according to Poehler, "see how she lives."
• But don't get your hopes too high for a crossover with another show. When asked about teaming up with 30 Rock, Poehler said, "Well, I want do something with Lost
  but they’re not on NBC. . . . It would be very difficult to do a crossover. That would be great, like, to try to shoehorn a crossover and, like, where we just go,'ding-dong.'"

To see what happened over on the 24 panel, just read more

ABC was the last big network at the TCAs, but it kicked off the morning with a big one — the cast of Lost. Josh Holloway, Evangeline Lily, a Robert Pattinson-gushing Emilie de Ravin, and several other members of the cast gathered together to reminisce about their last season together. Matthew Fox missed the panel, while his costars talked about their favorite scenes over the years together, and how we might feel about the finale — read more about what they shared here. We also checked out The Deep End, a new drama about young, hot lawyers, including True Blood's Mehcad Brooks, who many of you want to see more of in 2010.

Bill Lawrence and a few of ABC's other comedy writers hit the stage in the afternoon, fresh off the news that their shows were picked up for a second season. They kept the critics laughing through the afternoon talking about the long life of Scrubs, the Conan and Jay mess, and even a few Friends. When asked about following up Lisa Kudrow's appearance on Cougar Town with more of Courteney Cox's friends, Bill said, "Jennifer Aniston is coming on the show, she is not aware of that yet."

Lots more photos from the TCAs, so read more

Emilie de Ravin took the stage at today's TCAs in Pasadena where she answered questions with all her Lost castmates before their last season starts Feb. 2. After the panels, we snuck in one question about, who else, Robert Pattinson, who she worked with on the upcoming Remember Me. It's one of the movie's we're most looking forward to this year, especially after the latest hot poster and here's what she had to say. On working with Rob on Remember Me vs. her Lost leading men:

Every experience with whoever you work with is always different. I had a great time working with him. We really made a point of working on our characters and their relationships and such. He's a really easy going and nice guy to work with, which is always refreshing.

Love hearing her gush a little bit about Rob, who has been quite successfully laying low since his and Kristen's New Year's fan encounter.

This morning Carlton Cuse, Damon Lindelof, and a handful of cast members took the stage for their very last Lost panel at the Winter TCA. As expected, the cast and showrunners were pretty tight-lipped about the happenings of the season finale, but they did throw us a few bones. Namely, Harold Perrineau will return as Michael, Cynthia Watros will be back as Libby, and we'll be treated to some actual new footage right before the season premiere on Feb. 2. Here are more highlights:

• The cast was understandably emotional about the ending of the Lost era. Evangeline Lilly said she's "gonna cry like a baby" and that "it's been so intense that for it to come to an end is going to be life changing." Josh Holloway (and his million dollar smile) gushed about the camaraderie and magic on the set in the final season.
• The whole crew seemed excited about the season premiere (which is apparently on the same scale as a finale), but Emilie de Ravin mentioned that it took her three reads to fully understand what happened, and Damon Lindelof noted, "Get ready to scratch your heads, America!"
• The season premiere will pick up right where the finale left off.
• As for favorite moments over the years, Emilie de Ravin mentioned the scenes when the cast was all together, while Lilly noted the episode where Claire gives birth and Boone dies as her favorite. Daniel Dae Kim remembers the season one finale when the raft set sail, while Michael Emerson said, "I have lots of found memories of breathless confrontations in small rooms." But my favorite goes to Jorge Garcia, who said, "When the comet hits Mr. Cluck's, and I'm laying there, and they're throwing raw chicken parts at me."

For more on what we can expect and what the cast had to say, just read more

Following yesterday's news about another order for Glee comes word from the Winter TCA this morning that ABC has ordered second seasons of The Middle, Modern Family (more Phil!), and Cougar Town.

As a fan of the Wednesday comedy lineup, I'm psyched to see all of the shows remain intact, and especially happy for Courteney Cox for proving that she's more than just a one-hit-show wonder. Congrats all!

Photos copyright 2010, ABC, Inc.