Saving Grace At the Paley Center

Well, we didn't exactly save her as Earl wasn't there, but then she's doing fine as she is. Or at least she was at the Paley Center's panel discussion and screening of the third season premiere of Saving Grace. The entire main cast was there, except for the aforementioned Leon Rippy who plays Earl.

On stage with the cast was creator/showrunner Nancy Miller, with the rest of the writers in the audience. The panel was moderated by Cynthia Littleton of Variety.

On stage in the back row was Lorraine Toussaint, Bailey Chase, Gregory Cruz and Yaani King. In the front row is Dylan Minnette, Laura San Giacomo, Kenny Johnson, Holly Hunter, and creator Nancy Miller.

First we were treated to a screening of the powerful season 3 opener. It was very intense and yet, had lots of humor. Yaani had a small but pivotal role in the crime story and apparently will have a larger role going forward.

When asked about what she looks for in writers, Miller said strong, original voices, which is what most showrunners say in answer to that question.

However, she also said she looks for writers who have something to say (something I wish all shows valued more in their writers).

Miller mentioned that we will meet Bobby Stillwater's father this season -- something I'm looking forward to.

Afterwards in the lobby, I mentioned to her a wish for more emphasis on Native Americans in their stories. Miller said she was interested in doing more, but their Native American advisors were quite sensitive to issues of portrayal and they had to take care.

When I talked to Gregory, he mentioned that his father will be portrayed by an actor who will please me, but he wouldn't tell me who. Drat! I did find out that Gregory is Apache on his mother's side.

Littleton asked Holly Hunter, who is also an executive producer of Saving Grace, about bringing the show to cable when she was a very sought after actress by the networks. Hunter was quick to point out that a woman character like Grace could never get on network.

She credits Shawn Ryan for breaking open cable with The Shield and she credits Vic Mackey for paving the way for a character like Grace. She also pointed out that Victoria Mackey would not have flown. Hunter also credits Helen Mirren with paving the way for Grace, even though her Prime Suspect character was in England.

Miller confirmed that all of her characters' last names were towns in Oklahoma. Kenny Johnson said laughingly that he has been unable to find Dewey, Oklahoma on a computer map and Miller promised to show it to him when they got back to the office.

A question from the audience that stumped Holly was whether she had seen Grace's relationship to her male cop co-workers change over the course of the series as opposed to her female cop co-workers. She admitted it was a very good question, but it was obvious she had not thought along those lines and didn't have a ready answer for him.

After the Q and A, some of the actors and writers hung around to take photos and talk with fans who approached them in the lobby. I took some random photos which I'll include here.

It's a great show and tonight was an informative and fun evening.