ONCE UPON A TIME / THE NEWSROOM: PALEYFEST 2013 by Marques Wayne

The PaleyFest is an annual celebration of television and the men and women that create content for network and cable shows.  This year a fresh batch of new and returning shows has been selected to be presented at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills for the two week festival.  Today, I had the pleasure to attend the red carpet and Q & A panels for ABC's Once Upon a Time and HBO's The Newsroom.  Each show has a very different tone and appeal and the events were accordingly different, but both were enjoyable in their own respective ways.

The early afternoon panel for the cast and creators of Once Upon A Time was upbeat and light for the most part and the cast was chummy and amiable on the red carpet interviews and during the Q & A section.  For the uninitiated, the show is a drama about about Disney fairytale characters living dual lives in the real world as ordinary people and a fantasy world as iconic characters, and the endless fight between good and evil.  

Fans of the show are loyal and die-hard.  During the screening of the newest episode there were lots of cheers and and strong reactions to the various plot points.  Interestingly enough, the evil queen played by Lana Parrilla got just as many cheers as the pure-hearted Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin).  The rakishly handsome Colin O'Donoghue who plays the villainous Captain Hook was also a fan favorite.  

The fans in the audience got to ask questions about the current and future seasons of the show and got some good tidbits about things to come, but the creators Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz remained tight-lipped about most of the major developments coming up in the next few episodes. 

The panel for The Newsroom was similarly upbeat.  The cast, and creator Aaron Sorkin, both praised each other and felt mutually privileged to be able to work together.  However, the fan questions were more thoughtful and serious in keeping with the show's theme.  

The panel, moderated by Piers Morgan, a respected newsman himself, was very intelligent, funny and thought-provoking, much like the series itself.  There was a 10 minute teaser at the opening of the panel which revealed that the extended cast and guest stars like Jane Fonda and Marcia Gay Harden would be returning and whet everyone's interest for what's to come this summer when the show returns to HBO. 

After each Q & A the panelists all stayed behind to sign autographs and take photos with fans and the rush to the stage was a joyous chaos.  The one cast member that put in the most time with fans was Olivia Munn of The Newsroom who was the last one off the stage and stayed until every fan had a their picture and autograph.  A real class act. 

I'm looking forward to meeting and hearing from the casts of Community, The New Normal and The Mindy Project next week.   

Follow our Twitter @PopCultureBeast for live updates during the panels and screenings.

Special thanks to Samsung Smart TV for sponsoring my coverage of PaleyFest 2013. Make sure to like Samsung TV USA on Facebook for an insider look at red carpet photos, video highlights, recaps from the day's events and more. Also, don’t forget to follow @PopCultureBeast on Twitter for live updates during the screenings and panels.