Paleyfest 2013! The Walking Dead! With Andrew Lincoln! Norman Reedus! Laurie Holden! Steven Yuen! Danai Gurira! Robert Kirkman! And More! Autographs! Pushing! Fighting! And BRAINS!

Man oh man… The first night of Paleyfest 2013 and it’s a biggie! It’s none other than The Walking Dead. Now, the Walking Dead is one of my favorite shows, it’s simply put amazing. The cast is great, you never know what the hell is going to happen and if I was in a zombie end of the world insanity I could see myself walking around with a couple limbless jawless pets.

Now, I like the Paleyfest but it’s crazy. You have to get there early to get a good seat to rush the stage and try to get stuff signed if that’s your desire. I like signed stuff… Wait… NOOOOOOO…. So, that’s one of the reasons I still go.

It does get a little over the top though.

Now, when I got there Billy and Erica were already in line with a couple of Billy’s friends. Billy has a Paley Center membership so we were able to get in first. Which is how we got tickets to the event in the first place.

There are a shit ton of people here… Man, I’m expecting nothing today.

The thing is, I’ve met the cast before and they are super nice. There was the premiere for season 3, the q and a, comic con, etc… so I’ve been blessed.

They also have these awesome limited edition posters they’re selling tonight, that I really want… Sigh… Our game plan was a good one. Two people go get seats two people get posters.

Worked perfectly!

(insert Mike Wriggling his hands and laughing menacingly here!)

Now, the poster was a tad larger than I thought so my board wouldn’t hold it, which made me a tad mad at myself, but ah well… I can do the rolling thing. It’ll be fine.

I also got to see MTF reader and contributor Russell who sat across the aisle ironically! #awesome!

The evening started with a clip show from The Walking Dead and some behind the scenes footage.

I actually liked this a lot better than just watching an episode. I’ve pretty much seen everything shown at this festival by now, but seeing something special is really nice.

Then the cast and creative team was introduced.

Robert Kirkman, Executive Producer 
Gale Anne Hurd, Executive Producer 
Dave Alpert, Executive Producer 
Greg Nicotero, Executive Producer 
Andrew Lincoln, “Rick Grimes” 
Danai Gurira, “Michonne” 
Laurie Holden, “Andrea” 
Steven Yeun, “Glenn Rhee” 
Norman Reedus, “Daryl Dixon” 
Scott Wilson, “ Hershel Greene” 
Emily Kinney, “Beth Greene”
Moderator: Chris Hardwick, Host, The Talking Dead Were attending.
Now, everyone was pumped and Moderator Chris Hardwick was good at keeping the evening light and funny.

Andrew Lincoln tended to ramble a lot in his answers but honestly, it was very endearing. It’s always funny to hear Rick talk in an English accent.

Laurie Holden defended a lot of her characters choices, namely sleeping with the governor. I liked her answers though and the reasoning she found behind it.

Laurie also talked about trying to find a mediation with both camps this season.

Everyone talked about the “goodbye dinners” for the cast members who die, and Laurie Holden says it’s a very emotional experience for everyone when someone leaves.

Andrew Lincoln said that the hardest scene he ever had to play was Laurie’s death scene… Oh, spoiler alert in case you lived under a rock.

Norman Reedus said that if the apocalypse didn’t happen that Darryl probably would have ended up a bad guy or a loser, but that the zombie’s were a really good thing for him in terms of being a person.

Danai Gurira said she doesn’t watch horror movies because they scare her. LOL…

Steven Yeun talked about the evolution of Glenn and how he started out as a baseball hat wearing kid and now he’s becoming more like a jock.

All in all it was a really good panel. the audience questions were bad as usual. I mean really guys, if you don’t have anything to say… Don’t raise your hand!

Then it was the crush. I mean people were lining up on the sides just waiting to run up front. I mean, I’m a big guy and once I had a spot i couldn’t move. We were stuck there. If I wanted to leave, I couldn’t. LOL…

I managed to get Emily Kinney first. She looked frazzled by it all but signed a few.

I got her on my Paleyfest poster. I also brought a mini poster and some magazines as well.
Then Norman Reedus was signing to my right. And Andrew Lincoln to my left. Since I couldn’t move I was in a bit of a jam.

Thankfully, Andrew was moving so he could sign as much as possible.

The man is a machine!

He signed my big poster and then my mini poster as well.

Then it looked like Laurie Holden and Danai Gurira had left. Bummer!

Greg Nicotero was around and came by. He signed my Paleyfest poster really fast.

Now, Robert Kirkman was coming by and I got him on both posters.

Steven Yeun is flying by. He signed my Paleyfest poster and then I got him on my mini poster as well.

Oh shit! Laurie Holden is coming back!

She literally took off her shoes and is sitting on the floor signing for people! LOL…

She is scooting herself down the row.

Norman Reedus is next to me now and signs everything put in front of him.

He signed both things I brought for him.

Andrew Lincoln is coming back now.

Russell helped me get my TV Guide signed as Andrew kept skipping it for some reason.

Laurie is scooting my way now and signs again anything put in front of her. She signs my Paleyfest poster and my mini poster as well. Nice!

Then Danai Gurira is signing and she signs both of my posters back to back. Sweet!

I swear they are the nicest cast. The signed for probably a half hour to get to everyone. I mean that’s over the top nice.

I still had an Entertainment Weekly magazine for Danai Gurira and had Billy watch the rest of my stuff and went down there and she was happy to sign it as they took her way and tried to usher people out.

It was nuts. The pushing, the shoving, people threw posters on top my MY head and I’m 6’4!
I know Billy, got his stuff done as well as his friends. Overall, I’m really happy. I’m tired but happy!

Stay tuned for more from Paleyfest 2013!

Until next time kids…