I’m back from the Paley Center Moonlight event! Bleary-eyed and sleep-deprived, but I couldn’t go to bed without sharing the fun with you all. I’ll do my best to avoid any outright spoilers, so spoiler-phobes should be cleared to read on.

First, an apology for the delay in getting photos from tonight’s event posted. We are experiencing some technical difficulties with uploading photos which are, quite frankly, making me want to drive over to tech support and bash some heads. (UPDATE: The head bashing was a success – check out the Gallery for loads of photos.) Instead, let’s focus on the goodies I can share with you right away.

If you were following our Twitter post, you got a few snippets during the panel itself. Unfortunately, reception inside the theater was pretty bad, so not everything made it to Twitter. For example, “Just met Alex. He says ‘hi’.” didn’t go through. I had the chance to meet Alex, along with Leeser from MoonlightLine.com and Rueben from MoonlightFans.com, before the panel itself. He had graciously requested to meet us to thank us for supporting the show via our fansites. He (and the rest of the cast/crew) had just come from the set after working all day, but he still wanted to make sure we knew how grateful he is to the fans for all our support. Yeah, he really is that nice! And in case you’re wondering, he smelled faintly of cigars and of the leather jacket he was wearing.

The panel itself was moderated by Kristen dos Santos from E!, a recent supporter of Moonlight who is now a full-fledged fan. She introduced each person as they came out: Harry Werksman (writer/producer), Gabrielle Stanton (writer/producer), Brian J. White (Lt. Davis), Eric Winter (ADA Talbot), Jason Dohring (Josef), Sophia Myles (Beth), Alex O’Loughlin (Mick) and Joel Silver (executive producer). Joel garnered the loudest and longest applause, although there was plenty of noise for everyone as they were introduced!

The affection this group feels for each other was on full display tonight. Alex and Jason were having fun teasing each other, Sophia got it from Alex, Jason and Eric (but gave it right back at ‘em!), Joel was teased by everyone, and Eric was loving the fans booing his character (a potential “wrench” in the MickBeth romance).

All of the cast talked about how happy they were to be on the show. Sophia said it was “like winning a golden ticket from a Wonka Bar. It’s the best job I’ve ever had.” Jason recounted that although he’d worked with Joel before (on Veronica Mars), he had to go in for a screen test. Prior to that, he met with Alex to discuss the show and his role. At this point, Alex mimicked smoking a cigar, affected a rather posh English accent, and drawled, “You must remembah, Jason, you must remembah…” Alex then paused and said, “I sound like a tool.” Jason responded with, “I was going to say something nice about you and that meeting, but now…” That kind of teasing went on all night. When Eric talked about landing the role, he started by saying, “Well, I was brought in to smoke a cigar with Alex…” Yeah, the cigar joke lasted pretty much the entire evening.

Kristin asked Alex and Sophia about their amazing chemistry as Mick and Beth. Alex chalked it up to them both being from the Commonwealth and having a similar sense of humor. He said they became mates (i.e. friends) immediately and that it amazes him how terrific their chemistry is on the show. Sophia chimed in saying that it really is amazing to do a scene with Alex and feel it click. She started to talk about how the fact that they have a platonic, brother-sister relationship in real life allows them to be more open to the chemistry between their characters and that the nature of their real life relationship is what makes MickBeth successful. Alex interjected with, “Which is why I finally had to say ‘no, Sophia’” while pretending to push her away. Sophia screwed up her face at him and said, “Whatever!” Definitely a sibling vibe there! Sophia then said that she wants to do lots of projects with Alex, at which point they attempted a high-five, which was unsuccessful. So they tried a couple more times. Unsuccessfully. Naturally this prompted much laughter and comments about their “connection.”

Joel shared that Harry and Gabrielle have some “fresh and unique” ides for season two. Harry said he thinks these next four episodes show that they’re “hitting our groove” and proving that they can do action, drama, comedy and romance. “We can really do romance.” Nice segue into the MickBeth topic, huh? Alex tiptoed around the question of where MickBeth are headed, checking with Joel to make sure he wasn’t revealing too much. In brief, he said that he thinks the MickBeth relationship has survived unrequited love, but should ever become requited (i.e. they “seal the deal”), there are still plenty of stories left to tell. In his words, “the journey continues just as it does in real life.”

This led to the inclusion of Eric in the conversation. He said, “I think every fan, deep down, wants a wrench thrown into a love story.” The fans immediately voiced their disagreement, which he gleefully accepted. I’m telling you, Moonlighters, this guy is a hoot! He was surprised at the fan reaction when he first came out (cheers, applause), and the vehemence of their dismay over Talbot “having eyes for Beth,” but he seems to love the fact that the fans are so into the show. He did make a comment about fearing for his safety, though, at which point Joel dropped the following tease: “He is more than a guy who has eyes for Beth. You just sit tight and watch.” He later revealed that by mid-season 2 (CBS willing), “we will love Talbot.” Intriguing, yes?

Talk then turned to Josef’s “sad and tragic life”, specifically Sarah, his sleeping beauty. Lots of “awwww’s” on behalf of Josef. Jason revealed that while Sarah won’t appear in the next four episodes, there is romance on the horizon for Josef. After getting the go ahead from Joel, he also revealed that Josef “talks it out” with Mick in “a cute scene.” Not sure which episode this happens in, though.

And speaking of romance, Alex then said, “Wait until you see what happens between Mick and Josef in episode 13!” Of course, die hard fans that we are, we all answered, “We already know!” Alex and Sophia both looked taken aback and said, “HOW?!?!” Some fans mentioned spoilers on the Internet, to which Alex replied, “I have no life, man. I always tell people to just come see me at Warner Bros.” A fan then said, “We know more about the episode than you do!” Harry piped up with, “Good, ‘cuz I have some questions…” Lots of laughing over this exchange, too.

Kristen asked how everyone was feeling about getting a second season. Joel said he was optimistic, but that it depends on how many people are watching. He thinks CBS wants to keep the show, but the ratings will be very important over the next few weeks. Sophia jumped in with, “I think we’re going to slam dunk it!” This drew plenty of cheers from the crowd!

The fans were able to ask a few questions at the end of the panel. One of the most interesting was what Alex, Sophia and Jason thought were their characters’ biggest regrets. Sophia said not being honest with Josh before he died. Jason said, “I think they wrote his biggest regret in ‘Sleeping Beauty’. It doesn’t get bigger than that.” Alex said he thinks one of Mick’s biggest regrets is not finding a way to say goodbye to his family after he was turned.

Someone asked about upgrading security in the Fortress of Style, since it seems Beth is the only one who knocks while everyone else just breaks in. Alex said Beth is the only one with manners.

Alex also recounted a story from filming the bathtub scene in “Fever”: the cameraman decided to stand in the bathtub to get better shots, so he took off his shoes and socks and hopped in, standing over Alex. For one shot (which they didn’t end up using), Alex had to submerge himself under the water. He recounted feeling the water getting into his nose, mouth and ears. “It smelled like feet!” He said it took 2 1/2 weeks to get all of the water out of his head, and at random times, he’d look at that cameraman and say, “I can still smell your feet!” Ah, the glamorous life of an actor.

The cast and creative team were heading back to the set after the event, so after the Q&A wrapped up, Joel introduced the next part of the evening: a screening of “Fated to Pretend” which airs on CBS this Friday, April 25, at 9/8c. Without giving too much away, I’ll say that it is terrific! The show is firing on all cylinders – action, drama, romance, comedy. MickBeth fans will be happy, Josef fans will be happy, and, well, Moonlight fans will be happy! Seriously, don’t miss this one. And it sounds like the three to follow this season are going to be even better!

Many thanks to the nice folks at the Paley Center who provided a press pass for the event. And a howdy to all of the Moonlight fans I met tonight; you guys are a blast! Finally, thanks to Alex for taking the time to chat with us before the event, and to the entire cast and creative team who took time out of a very busy day to meet the fans. We heart you all!