Having survived the cull from last season, The CW's Beauty and the Beast is back for a second run this October.
The show has carved out a small but solid audience and will switch to Mondays next year, pairing up with Rachel Bilson's Hart of Dixie.
Expect to hear more about the second season in today's panel, which also features a Q&A with the Beauty and the Beast themselves.
Please note that all times in this live blog are Pacific, which is eight hours behind the UK and three hours behind the East Coast.
Without further ado it's straight on to the next panel here in Ballroom 20, Beauty and the Beast.
To help get you in the mood, here's a clip of Angela Lansbury (still alive and kicking) singing the famous theme tune:
Last year I live blogged the first panel for this show (read it here) and gave my first impression on the pilot: “Well, it was alright I suppose, fairly unthrilling. 6/10 at best.” Safe to say that I'm positively THRILLED about the next hour.
A sizzle reel of highlights from season one just played out. I'm not kidding, it lasted thirty seconds.
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: DVD to be released on October 1! Sign me up for the pre-order!!!
My sarcasm will stop now, promise.
We are currently enjoying the gag reel. It'll be on that DVD set, folks.
Once we're done laughing, the panel will come out. They're keeping it simple: Kristin Kreuk (Beauty), Jay Ryan (Beast) and execs Jennifer Levin and Sherri Cooper.
Why did they decide to get the two characters together so soon? Levin: "We had a lot of discussions about it. We really want the show to be about love and these two being drawn to each other."
How important were the fans to getting a second season? Cooper: "We won lots of awards because of Beasties. They are so passionate. We won a People's Choice award for best new show last year by a landslide and that was huge to getting us renewed."
Kreuk: "I love working with women and it's nice to see that reflected on camera. There's two very strong, flawed women who work together."
How do you feel about all these women? Ryan: "I'm surrounded. It's great. Although we have had some more men join the crew for season two, which is nice, to have some male writing blood for season two. So there's a lot of changes coming up, a new Beast look, even."
Ryan: "We start season two three months after. There's a lot that's changed." Cooper: "We're going to see a more super-charged Vincent. How has Vincent being gone impacted everyone? We're looking at this season as not just a season, but several seasons, we're not just going arc by arc. There's a bigger mythology this season." Levin: "This season is about how hard it is to be in love and the work it takes. We felt at the end of last season, Vincent wasn't really a beast, just an awesome guy. So the theme for this season is 'who am I?'"
Cooper: "Heather's going to be holding the secret [about Catherine's dad] for a little bit. Once Catherine finds out the big secret, it's going to impact her. We won't tease it too long."
On the death of Evan, Levin: "It feels really important. Of course Beauty and Beast are safe, but living in this world there's always a threat. With Evan it felt inevitable for him."
Audience Q&A time. Cooper: "JT is going to be an integral part of this season. Last time we didn't use him enough. We're gonna explore why JT is the guy always giving up his life for Vincent. Is there a deeper reason?" Levin: "We like the idea of him starting to align himself with Tess, what it's like to be the sidekick."
How does Kreuk stay so awesome? "There's an assumption in this question that I am awesome. How can I answer this question? I really have no funny answer to that. I can't play softball. I can't play hockey. I'm not great socially."
Does Ryan sometime relate to being The Beast from the fairytale version? "I try to incorporate as much as the old mythology in what I'm doing or try to relate it to the scripts in front of us. That keeps it exciting to me. So next season there will be red roses everywhere or something."
Anything about Vincent's family this season? Levin: "Yes. And early on."
Any new capabilities for the Beast? Levin: "Yes, the beast is going to evolve for sure." Cooper: "He was captured by the organisation. They did stuff to him." Ryan: "His skills are more honed."
Tess. Levin: "She's no longer with Joe, and we're gonna explore that and give her new avenues." Cooper: "And that will tap into who am i? Who am I in love with? Cool triangles. We're going to get into it because she's a free woman at the start of season two."
Levin: "Cath is so taken by Vincent and it's hard for Tess to watch this. There is that tension. At the end of the day she doesn't care about Vincent, she cares about Cath, and we're going to deal with that."
Dream storylines for the characters? Kreuk: "I just love the theme of this entire season, how we're exploring who Catherine is." Ryan: "I'm the same. We're really excited about going into season two, and for Vincent to have a community outside of just being in the wayhouse. A lot of his backstory is going to come through, and that deep mythology of who Vincent is is going to be weaved into this season. There's a lot for me to chew on."
Cooper: "There will be new characters. We know what the show is now, only it's better. It's 2.0."
Have they read any fan fiction? Ryan: "Every night before bed. I've read some of it. It's saucy. Good stuff." Cooper: "Is it like 50 Shades of Grey but...?" Ryan: "Yep."
Ryan: "It's like Beauty and the Beast but on HBO."
Crikey, that was a fast panel. The beauty and the beast have both now left the stage and that's a wrap on this blog. Next up is Psych and you can follow live coverage of that with me right here.
