spectralbovine is such a show-off. Oh, did you read my e-mail? Sheesh. ;)

Hey, maxymama just asked the same question she commented about in my previous post about reactions to the premiere episode. Good question! :)


So the VM Teleconference with Rob Thomas and Tina Majorini just ended. A good time was had by all.

I don't have time to type up a verbatim transcript right now, but here are some highlights. Tina's answers were a little hard to hear at times because she was calling in from her house and there was some feedback at times. (Rob was at the VM writers' office and was a lot louder and clearer.)

Tina likes the way the friendship between Veronica and Mac is portrayed. Butters is still at Neptune High and will probably not be around at Hearst. Mac probably wouldn't have anything to do with him anyway because she finds him "strange" and "annoying." [laughs] (Although Tina likes the actor and enjoyed working with him, blahblah.)

Rob was asked if he had learned anything from the fans' negative reaction to Jackie last season, and if that would affect the introduction of any new character this season. He said that he didn't think so (maybe unconsciously), but one thing he learned from the Hannah storyline is that anyone who comes between Veronica and Logan in any way is going to get "hammered" by fans. He knows this. Very well. He liked the actress who played Hannah and thought fans were a bit harsh with her because her character dared to come between V/L. (Paraphrasing here.) But he knows that and is prepared for it.

Rob would not reveal any details of the second and third mysteries, other than to say that he was influenced by Steven Soderbergh's Bubble in the way that he would be "setting up" or "leading up" to one of the mysteries.

Rob isn't worried about any "pitfalls" of moving V to college because VM really isn't a "coming of age" story that focuses on life in high school. It's a detective show. Moving her to college actually opens her up to a lot more possibilties for plots and storylines that wouldn't have worked if she were still in h.s.

Rob thought the old credits had to be changed, because they were so h.s. oriented with the notebook paper and doodles. They wouldn't work anymore and he never liked them much anyway. He wanted something more noir looking.

The rest of the answers are either spoilery or have been covered in other recent interviews (the first episode will be heavy on the banter to appeal to GG fans -- although RT has never seen it because his wife tells him it's a little "girly" for him, future guest stars, potential future guest stars and/or crossovers, Tina will still have a recurring role on Big Love, etc.)

I'm sure that someone will have a transcript posted soon. (Maybe Rob's BFF spectralbovine, who asked about the new credit sequence.)

ETA: spectralbovine's recap is up, and here is another one from the tvaddict (which is also a recap, not an actual transcript).