This fall The CW is launching 3 sexy and addictive shows this September, The Vampire Diaries, The Beautiful Life and Melrose Place and today they were in Pasadena to preview the shows!!!
The Vampire Diaries will be coming to The CW on September 10th and you will be hooked from first bite! Dawson Creek’s Kevin Williamson is adapting the popular books (that were out before Twilight) to TV with Lost’s Ian Somerhalder, Degrassi’s Nina Dobrev and Paul Wesley. Paul and Ian are Vampire brothers and Stefan (Paul) was in love with a woman that looks just like Nina when he was converted back in the 1860’s. Today at press tour we were told that we will see how the two brothers became Vampires and the process they went through to become blood suckers. They said that some of the popular mythology will stay the same, but there will be new things that we have not seen in past Vampire lore. A big difference is that they will be able to wear rings that will protect them from sunlight which is why Stefan is able to go to high school. Another big change will be the difference in their powers by what blood they feed on, Stefan does animal while Damon (Ian) loves the human variety. In fact Williamson said that Damon is a happy-go-lucky Vampire who tap dances threw life because he loves to feed on the humans! And believe me Ian really captures that feel!
Here is a cute tidbit that came at the end of their press session today, Kevin Williamson got the whole cast diaries that says Vampire Diaries on it, so they can keep a journal. The two actresses said they were using them!!! So add September 10th to your journals because believe you are not going to want to miss this show!
The next show was The Beautiful Life that is produced by Ashton Kutcher and stars Mischa Barton, who wasn’t there but she was still the talk of the panel. Because I really like the show, I will get to what they said about her recent hospitalization out of the way first. They all said what was ailing her never interfered with work and she is on the set today filming and she isn’t going anywhere soon. Ashton said like her character, she brings experience to the set of younger actors. Wow at 23 she is the old one.
Ashton also talked about his modeling career and even though you would think the lead character a fresh out Iowa boy who becomes a model in NYC is about him, he said it isn’t. But we will be seeing his past experiences playing out during the show. He also said when someone told him back in his home state to become a model, he didn’t know men could do that. He thought that Marlboro man was a real cowboy. He also told us when he went to U of Iowa he went back to his dorm room and got upset because his roommate was having sex in the room. He packed up his things and was ready to leave college but on the way to getting to the airport he got sidetracked and went to his mom’s who took him back to school. After that he wanted out of dodge and two weeks later he got the opportunity and the rest is history. What was interesting that he said if given to do it all over again he would not have gone in to modeling before he started acting. The advice that would help him break in to acting was not very good according to him. I can’t wait to see what parts of his past will be played out on the show.
The panel was not all about him, but seriously I could listen to him all day because he really is more than just beauty he also has brains. Who knew? But back to TBL the show being about models will deal with body image, but they will handle it responsibly. Just from the pilot you can tell these girls are healthy and not too skinny.
The Beautiful Life will begin walking the runway on September 16th at 9p, and you don’t want to miss a single frame!
The last fall show on the panel is the one that is getting the most buzz and that is Melrose Place. The show’s creator Darren Swimmer said this is a tribute to the original, but it is its own show and that it def is. One thing that was quickly corrected is that Sydney’s death will not play out for the whole as originally reported but only for a few episodes. Just because Sydney’s murder will be resolved that doesn’t mean that will be end of seeing Laura Leighton. Also Melrose Place original Thomas Calabro said that his appearances are open-ended as of now, so he won’t be going anywhere soon! BTW the originals said the set and the pool is just like the original but better. (Side note – ABC Family’s 10 Things I Hate About You is filming on the original set for the show!)
What was an interesting fact on the panel is that only one of the new residents at Melrose Place actually watched a few episodes of the show when it originally aired and Katie Cassidy has still not seen it. I wonder if that is why this show doesn’t feel like the original, because none of them know anything about the show that started on Fox. BTW Katie’s character is tri-sexual and will do anything and anyone. Wonder what that means. I guess we will find out starting on September 8th
