True Blood at Paley

I really love the Paley Festival. The set up is marvelous and the presentation is just spectacular. I did get there later than I wanted to so I didn't get the best seats. Blame LA traffic and the Dodgers for that. The Fest started right on the dot with the VP of the Media Center saying a quick word about the Paley Foundation and then introducing a short clip of past presentations. After he then introduced a clip that the current Paley (William S. Paley's son) picked out to show the audience before the panel.

It was a Dark Shadows clip. I felt like a 3 year old jumping out of my seat when I saw the black and white scene and heard the music. I actually cheered. The people next to me turned to stare for a moment before looking back at the clip. Mum rolled her eyes as she smiled next to me. The only thing I was a disappointed in was that they didn't show the man himself, Jonathan Frid, as vampire, Barnabas Collins. I seriously think they are setting up for a large panel with the former cast of the show and the new cast of the movie. I am still rooting for that to happen.

Anyway, the moderator was then introduced and the show got rolling, as they say. All the actors were introduced to warm applause and a bit strained enthusiasm. I was surprised to see the audience was mostly older men and women. I thought there would be more 20 to 30 somethings present. The actors I think we surprised at this as well. Alan Ball (writer and director) was hilarious and probably the best speaker. Sam Trammell (plays Sam Merlotte) was also a conversation starter.

The only thing that I have not liked about any of these presentations are the audiences' questions. Really, folks, in the words of Ana Paquin, "Who cares about where the dirt comes from?" That was an actual question. She was nice. I would have slipped a more colorful word in there just to shame the questioner. There were about 2 questions that were decent. The others just made the cast look puzzled and wonder where these people are coming from.

The panel ran out of time at that moment so they abruptly ended the show. The audience at the front immediately flooded the stage to get autographs and closer photos. I was up in the Mezzanine and tried to push my way into the front. A group of old bitties (that reminded me of the dreaded "Twilight Moms") would not budge! If you got a photo and an autograph, move over and let someone else in, instead of hogging up the space with your not-small body. It's simple fan etiquette in my opinion. Even when I met Rickman, I immediately moved over so other people to get their share of the love.

The panel was worth it. Clips from the new Season look fantastic! I won't write what they were to not spoil any of you out there.

Photos of the event can be seen HERE.