SLEEPY HOLLOW at TCA: Live-Blog

The cast and producers of the new Fox series, SLEEPY HOLLOW will be participating in a Television Critics Association panel at 9:30 AM PT, so be sure to follow along for our live-blog of what goes down…

9:37 AM: Kicking things off now. On the pilot’s first causality, EP Len Wiseman says the intention is to keep viewers on their toes.

9:38 AM: Why so much sci-fi programming? It’s cyclical, EP Roberto Orci says. “I think there’s something really fun about taking imagery that’s [familiar]….and making it new and fresh,” EP Mark Goffman says.

9:39 AM: “One of the main missions was fun…” Wiseman says of the goal of the show. “Finding the right tone and the right balance of horror and suspense and the fantasy element. We just kept wanting to make sure it was really fun. It was a real goal of ours.”

9:40 AM: The pilot opens up with a very expensive song, and the panelists joke they have no money for the rest of the series now. “I balance it out by being very cheap,” star Tom Mison jokes.

9:41 AM: “It felt like one of those ideas that clicked to us on instinct,” EP Alex Kurtzman says of the idea to have the Sleepy Hollow legend be brought to the current timeline. He says that the show has a great dynamic, because given all the nutty mythology, it would be plausible for Mison’s Ichabod to be skeptical, but by making Nicole Beharie’s Abbie the skeptic, it gives them a fresh take on things.

9:43 AM: The headless horseman is going to be a man — he won’t just be a creature. “He can write, so apparently he can hear,” Wiseman says.

“The horseman is just the tip of the iceberg of the kind of evil we will see on the show,” Goffman says. Plus, there are a few other horsemen out there who can cause some trouble.

9:46 AM: “I think part of what got us excited about Ichabod is that he could be a lens” to our world, Kurtzman says. Since Ichabod was “asleep” for most of the history of our country, he goes through an incredible culture shock.

When the EPs ask the cast about what they think of the culture shock, Orlando Jones jokes, “We’re still reeling from the news that we can die at any point.”

9:48 AM: Wiseman says the show will be dark tonally, but made sure to reiterate it will be a fun show.

9:49 AM: “All of the producers are really great about giving us a blueprint of what the characters are,” Jones says. He says the interesting ideas that were brought up early in the series are not things that you normally find on a show.

“The challenge of accepting pieces of it — because obviously there is evidence…how much can you truly believe?” Beharie says of her character’s belief in the crazy going ons. “I would still say there is skepticism, of course.”

9:52 AM: “It feels like we’re in a real shifting moment in the way that people watch television,” Kurtzman says of how the series will play out in standalone/serialized balanced. “We were wildly, wildly influenced by THE X-FILES, even when we created FRINGE…it is the gold standard of gold standards.” He notes that he likes that with XF, the mythology wasn’t addressed in every episode. “Hopefully we can have the best of both worlds.”

9:54 AM: “They kind of have to bond with each other quickly,” Mison says. “You see people who were put together by necessity and they have to work together for a common [entity], even though they are 250 years apart.”

9:55 AM: “I think it’s going to be a major drive of the series,” Goffman says of Ichabod trying to get to his wife. “That really gives us a lot of territory to go over the next several episodes.”

9:57 AM: “I think that during that time, I was kind of just amazed by the drastic difference in the material,” Beharie says of filming the pilot as 42 was premiering. “In this process, I have to say, the things that are unraveling, the way that all the creators and the director and the crew are bringing to life certain things we read on the page, during that period, I couldn’t even think about what was happening with 42…even now, we’ve just gone into the first stages of production.” She says with the new material for SH, there’s the feeling that things could go right if things fall into place, and so far, all the ifs have.

9:59 AM: Kurtzman and Orci say they plan to stay involved with the show, despite their busy film schedule, but Goffman is showrunning. Kurtzman and Orci will be writing several episodes, joking they’ll be up until 4 AM.

Given the nature of the show, Kurtzman says “[Fox] would not pick us up if we couldn’t say what was happening in the first season” and be able to cite things like the big six tent pole moments of the first season. Because of having to craft those pre-pickup, they’re invested in the series.

10:02 AM: “I’m looking forward to the quest of trying to save my wife,” Mison says, joking he’s never gotten to do something quite like that before in his career.

Jones says he’s excited about the mythology.

10:04 AM: “It’s been done before,” Wiseman says of not making Ichabod a bumbling man. This version is much more sure of himself.

10:06 AM: “It’s a little shocking that people are still surprised,” Jones says of doing drama. “I think there’s a story to tell and there’s a role: I don’t ever think if it’s a comedy or drama, I think here is a character I have to try and bring to life in hopefully a way I haven’t done before.”

10:08 AM: Is there a timetable for when the headless may get his head back? “9 o’clock on Mondays,” Orci jokes. Kurtzman says they can’t do it too fast, given how iconic the character is, and that would be a very drastic move.

“He needs his head for a specific reason,” Wiseman teases. But just don’t expect it to happen too fast.