Spoiler: Ask Ausiello

22 07 2010

RELEVANT QUESTIONS–DON’T READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW!!!

Question: Do you know the name of Katie Cassidy’s character on Gossip Girl? —Julie
Ausiello:
As a matter of fact I do. Her name is Juliet Sharp.

Question: One Tree Hill scoop demanded. Let’s be real. Will Lucas and Peyton ever return to Tree Hill? —Taylor
Ausiello:
If this turns out to be the soap’s final season, I’d say there’s an 80 percent chance both will be back in the series finale.

Question: Why is it that there is still no juicy spoilerific scoop on One Tree Hill‘s new season? —Johnny
Ausiello:
Um…. did you not see my spoiler last week about three longtime series regulars being killed off in the season premiere? You’re looking for something bigger than that? Okay, here it goes: Look for Victoria and Millicent to jeopardize the future of Brooks company. (BTW, that first part about the three series regulars getting whacked was a joke. It’s okay to laugh.)

Question: I need a 90210 season 3 scoop—an amazing one! —Antonakis
Ausiello:
There’s a death in the season premiere. Amazing enough for you?

Credit: EW.com





One Tree Hill Evaluation Results

27 05 2010

Thanks to all who voted in the second annual One Tree Hill Evaluation.

The winners of each of these–except for the returning characters question–will face-off against the eventual winners in the Gossip Girl and 90210 polls.

FAVORITE CHARACTERS

Winners: Brooke, Nathan

Noteworthy: Although I noticed Brooke easily winning in the beginning, in the end the results were neck-and-neck with Haley earning 44 percent of the vote to Brooke’s 48.6 percent. For the first day or so, Quinn didn’t have any votes but by the end, she scrounged up 7, but not enough to beat Alex. Nathan won by a landslide, garnering 73.1 percent of the votes.

Last Season’s Winners: Brooke, Lucas

Thoughts: I can’t say I’m surprised that Nathan won or that Brooke did, but it’s a little strange not seeing Haley next to Nathan’s name. Nathan and Haley, in my opinion, are so intertwined, so it’s surprising to me that one won but the other didn’t. Like Quinn, Clay came in last. Granted the number of voters is a minuscule amount of One Tree Hill’s audience, but perhaps this is an indication of where some would like season 8 to go…or not go.

FAVORITE COUPLE

Winner: Nathan and Haley

Noteworthy: Naley received more than 2.5 times more votes than Brulian.

Last Season’s Winner: Lucas and Peyton

Thoughts: So, individually, voters prefer Nathan and Brooke but couples-wise, Nathan’s pairing trumps Brooke’s. I don’t quite get it. There was some love for Clay and Quinn (13 votes) and Clay and Sara (8 votes).

WORST CHARACTERS

Winners: Alex, Clay

Noteworthy: Clay received the majority of the vote, while Alex and Quinn were pretty close: 51.1 percent versus 41.3 percent.

Last Season’s Winners: Peyton, Lucas

Thoughts: It was no surprise to me that Clay would win this category (and it’s sad to say “win” here because it’s not a positive thing) when he was stacked up against Nathan and Julian, who, if nothing else, have been around for more than 22 episodes. I was surprised, however, to see Alex “beat” Quinn (and therefore really lost), given the results of the first poll, where a few more voted for Alex than Quinn as best character. Perhaps the difference can be attributed to the fact that the first poll had more votes cast in it. Maybe if more people voted in this poll, Quinn would’ve earned the dishonor just as she did in the first poll? Of course, I’m still perplexed by last year’s results on this one (where Leyton were named worst characters but also best couple) so what do I know?

WORST COUPLE

Winner: Clay and Sara

Noteworthy: Clay and Quinn were the runner-up, but still a decent ways behind.

Last Season’s Winner: Brooke and Owen

Thoughts: This one kind of disappointed me. I wasn’t surprised that Naley or Brulian got some votes–not everyone is a fan–but Clay and Sara in episode 7.07, I And Love And You was quite possibly the highlight of the season for me. Certainly the Katie storyline tarnished it a bit and maybe it did for others, too, leading to the worst couple title.

FAVORITE SUPPORTING CHARACTER

Winner: Jamie

Noteworthy: Most of the contenders got 3 percent of the vote or less.

Last Season’s Winner: Jamie

Thoughts: Jamie took this title two seasons in a row (I did not have the site during season 5, his first season on the show) and I’m kind of surprised. Maybe I’m biased, since I mostly haven’t dug him this season. I guess I expected Dan to win, despite his absence from the second-half of the season.

FAVORITE RETURNING CHARACTER

Winner: Rachel

Noteworthy: Last year, some people wrote in Rachel as their answer to this question, even though she wasn’t eligible since she didn’t appear in season 6. Bet those people were happy she did appear this season!

Last Season’s Winner: Karen

Thoughts: Figured this category would really be a toss-up, as I easily saw any of the candidates winning. While I was far from completely happy with Rachel, Taylor or Lydia’s storylines, I think all three actresses kicked major butt.

BEST STORYLINE

Winner: Lydia’s return and death from cancer

Noteworthy: Haley’s depression came in second, with less than 10 votes separating it from first place. The next highest was Brulian’s relationship followed by the Nathan/Renee scandal. Many things got one vote but among the more interesting picks (read: slightly puzzling) to me were Grubbs, Brooke dealing with Alexander/Victoria and “the entire 80’s episode. Only quality episode all season, besides the final.” There was also one person who said “none” and another who wrote “All of them!!! They were amazing this year :)”

Invalid Others: Lucas and Peyton, the school shooting, Jamie’s birth and season 3

Last Season’s Winner: Leyton’s relationship

Thoughts: It amuses me and frustrates me when people don’t follow the instructions–answers are to be based only on the season that just ended. (Not to mention some people selecting the wrong choice and not writing anything in at all.) Not sure what the two voters who said Lucas and Peyton meant–happy they’re gone or thinking about a past season? The Jamie’s birth one made me laugh. And perhaps those that put the schooling shooting and season 3 were thinking about the show overall, as I definitely understand those picks in that context. Anyway, Haley clearly dominated in this poll, between the depression storyline, Lydia’s death and votes for how Nathan’s scandal affecting Naley, plus picks for her pregnancy and one for her album…and yet she didn’t manage to win best female character.

WORST STORYLINE

Winner: Psycho Katie

Noteworthy: The second highest was the Nathan/Renee scandal, which I guess, given the previous question, split many viewers. In third was Julian and Alex’s interactions and how it affected Brulian. Again, many things got single votes including Nathan and Julian’s “KISS” scene, the overall focus on the guest/new characters and the Mouth/Lauren/Skills triangle. And, of course, there were a couple “none” and “all”-type votes.

Invalid Others: Nanny Carrie, Nathan and Brooke’s sex tape, Anna and Felix, season one

Last Season’s Winner: Nanny Carrie’s return

Thoughts: As someone who has a lot of beef with this season, the results here were like a giant love letter to me. It was reassuring to see many shared my same gripes, such as the rest of Haley’s siblings being MIA during Lydia’s death, Leyton’s absence (I think it was put best in this answer: “Peyton and Lucas not being there for the friends when they needed them”), Grubbs/Miranda and the misuse of Dan and Rachel.

BEST CLIFF-HANGER

Winner: Clay and Quinn getting shot

Noteworthy: The next highest results were actually what many considered to be happy (resolved?) endings: Naley’s pregnancy and Brulian’s proposal. There were some genuinely interesting answers (read: clever and/or frank): “Not much this season held my interest. Big disappointment from season’s past,” “By a long shot (no pun intended) Quinn,” “Will they kill off yawn-a-minute Quinn and keep Clay alive?” and “Would the show be renewed.”

Invalid Others: Season 3’s ending, Lucas’ proposal, if Leyton are coming back

Last Season’s Winner: Peyton’s health scare(s)

Thoughts: I expected Alex’s suicide attempt to garner more than 3 votes, but perhaps that’s just because I thought the scene was pretty awesomely done. I was surprised to see a vote for Mia and Chase (will they or won’t they get back together is really your biggest unanswered question?) and more pleasantly surprised to see a vote for Haley finding Renee’s phone number on Nathan’s phone bills.

RATE THE SEASON OVERALL

Winner: 8

Noteworthy: There were just 6 votes between “7” and “8.” Every value got at least 3 votes.

Last Season’s Winner: 8

Thoughts: For a while, if I recall correctly, there weren’t votes for 9 or 10 but those ended up earning a fair amount. I have to admit the 10 votes throw me off. It’s surprising to me that some think this season was just as good or better than past seasons as, in my opinion, it was just a vastly different show this year. But I guess it’s totally fair for it to be vastly different and people to like it.

RATE THE SHOW OVERALL

Winner: 10

Noteworthy: Won with a larger margin than the last question, more than doubling the votes that “9” got. Every value got at least 2 votes.

Last Season’s Winner: 10

Thoughts: Last year One Tree Hill was the only show to earn a 10 here. It remains to be seen whether that’ll happen again…

Don’t forget to vote in the Gossip Girl evaluation if you haven’t already.





Second Annual One Tree Hill Evaluation

24 05 2010

After the television season ended last year, I conducted three sets of polls to evaluate what readers thought of One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl and 90210.

The results of each then formed one more survey to see which teen drama really had the best season.

With last week’s conclusion to the 2009-2010 TV season, it’s time to do it again.

We’ll kick things off with a set of polls about One Tree Hill’s seventh season.

You have until Wednesday at 11:59pm eastern to vote. I’ll post the results and the next set of questions the next day.

**Please remember your answers should be based solely on the season that just ended, except for the last question, which is about the show overall.**

Note: The format is wonky for the open-ended questions.  Please put your answer in the “other” space.





Breaking News: One Tree Hill Renewed For 8th Season

18 05 2010

The CW has renewed One Tree Hill for an 8th season, according to Entertainment Weekly’s Michel Ausiello.

Ausiello reports The CW also renewed Life Unexpected, starring Shiri Appleby (Rene, Beverly Hills 90210) and Kerr Smith (Jack, Dawson’s Creek).

Ausiello says the renewals for OTH and LUX are for “at least 12 eps apiece.”

The network also reportedly ordered Nikita, featuring Melinda Clarke (Julie, The O.C.) and executive produced by McG (executive producer, The O.C.) , and Hellcats with Matt Barr (Ian “Psycho Derek” Banks, One Tree Hill; Keith van der Woodsen, Gossip Girl) and Robbie Jones (Quentin, One Tree Hill) as well as Ashley Tisdale, who once guest-starred on Beverly Hills 90210.

Per Ausiello, Melrose Place, which featured Laura Leighton (Sophie, Beverly Hills 90210) and Daphne Zuniga (Victoria, One Tree Hill), “is officially dead.”

The news is now being confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter as well as E!’s Kristin and other sources.

I have confirmed that the OTH folks do not yet know how many episodes the network will order, and Kristin reports that there is “no official word on what kind of episode orders OTH  and LUX have received, but we’re hearing they’ll split the season down the middle with 13 each.”

This presumably means Sophia Bush is out of the ABC pilot Southern Discomfort, since OTH takes priority. ABC has not yet announced whether they will order the pilot as a series or recast her role.

The CW will present their fall schedule to advertisers and the media Thursday morning in New York City. Honored to share I will be in attendance and tweeting from the event. A recap will be posted on TDW late in the day.





News Roundup: One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl and The O.C.

17 04 2010
  • Daphne Zuniga (Victoria, One Tree Hill) is spearheading a charity auction to support the Los Angeles River. Among the packages you can bid on: lunch with Zuniga, Sophia Bush (Brooke, One Tree Hill), Austin Nichols (Julian, One Tree Hill), Lisa Goldstein (Millicent, One Tree Hill) and Allison Munn (Lauren, One Tree Hill). Who has $1,000+ they can loan me?
  • Zuniga also recently joined Twitter. She has been added to the Twitter Directory.
  • Forbes named Chuck (Ed Westwick, Gossip Girl) one of the wealthiest fictional characters and did an interview with “him.”
  • News of the World has an interview with Eric Daman (costume designer, Gossip Girl) about the Miss Selfridge collection of Gossip Girl-inspired clothes that will be available in Britain later this month.
  • Benjamin McKenzie (Ryan, The O.C.) was shooting the movie Sin Bin in Chicago last week. Why couldn’t he done it when I lived there?




Weekly Poll

3 03 2010

In the last Weekly Poll, most voters–56 percent–said the Victoria/Alexander pairing on One Tree Hill came out of nowhere, though 31 percent said they don’t know what to think while 13 percent said it makes sense. The second poll had similar numbers, with 53 percent saying seeing Georgina every now and then on Gossip Girl was fine, 34 percent saying she should be a main character and 14 percent saying it depends on the storyline. Forty-four percent prefer Harry to be written off 90210 via death, with “none of the above” getting the next highest result–24 percent–and then 15 percent for “combo of the above,” and 9 percent each for divorce and rehab.





Weekly Poll

24 02 2010

In the last Weekly Poll, a huge majority–73 percent–suspected that Brooke jumped to the wrong conclusion about Julian and Alex on One Tree Hill. The next largest amount, 14 percent, said it sure looked like they slept together. Ten percent said they didn’t know but were looking forward to finding out while 4 percent said they also didn’t know but weren’t looking forward to finding out. In a tighter race, 40 percent said Gossip Girl’s renewal came as no surprise while 32 percent said it was unnecessary and the show should end. Fifteen percent were torn since they were happy with the show but nervous for the future while another 13 percent were torn because they’re disappointed with the show but excited for the future. And in the closest poll, there was tie: 36 percent each said the 90210 promos made them excited or disappointed. Another 29 percent said they were mixed.





News Roundup: Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, The O.C. and Dawson’s Creek

10 02 2010
  • Josh Schwartz (executive producer, Gossip Girl) tweeted a bunch of spoilers today about the new episodes, all of which we pretty much knew.
  • EW.com has a brief blog post featuring the new Gossip Girl promo I’ve been talking about.
  • Examiner.com has a wonderful interview with Daphne Zuniga (Victoria, One Tree Hill).
  • Kidult has an interview with Jana Kramer (Alex, One Tree Hill).
  • Both The O.C. and Dawson’s Creek are mentioned in a Zap2it article on “soundtracks of love.”
  • PopMatters has an interesting article on Life Unexpected, which stars Kerr Smith (Jack, Dawson’s Creek). Smith aside, it’s relevant to this site in terms of what they say about The CW, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill and 90210.
  • Korbi has a brief video interview with Busy Philipps (Audrey, Dawson’s Creek) about Cougar Town.
  • Leann Hunley (Tamara, Dawson’s Creek) will appear on an episode of NCIS.




Exclusive: Get To Know Mike Grubbs of One Tree Hill and Wakey!Wakey!

31 01 2010

Among One Tree Hill’s crop of fresh faces this season is Grubbs, a bartender at Tric. If you’re wondering where the name comes from (Is he supposed to be grubby? Chubby? Just an odd duck?), meet Mike Grubbs, the actor who plays him.

In our exclusive interview, Grubbs explains how his band Wakey!Wakey! led to a role on One Tree Hill, who his character may or may not get together with and how he uses Twitter to interact with his growing fanbase.

TeenDramaWhore: Let’s start at the very beginning. How did you first get involved with the show?

Mike Grubbs: It’s actually a very interesting story, Shari. A friend of [OTH creator] Mark Schwahn’s saw me play. She called Mark and said, “When you’re in New York next time, let me know. I’ll arrange it so this guy plays where you’re at.” Mark came to town and I got a call the night of. I was actually out on a date at the time and I got a call saying, “We need you to go to this place to play for Mark” and I was like, “Well, actually, you know, it’s kind of a bad night for me.” At that time I didn’t know Mark but they explained to me who he was and everything. So I said, “Yeah. Okay. I might as well try it.” But I was on a date so it took me a little while to get out there. Mark sat at this open mic night for three hours waiting to hear me play, which is pretty amazing. Most record executives, the way they handle hearing someone play for them  is you’ll fly out to where they are and go to their office and sit in some cold waiting room until whenever they’re ready to let you in and do the audition. They’ll give you maybe about 5 minutes of their time usually but Mark came and sat for 3 hours to hear me play at this open mic in Brooklyn, which just kind of points to the fact that he’s doing something right. I think that’s why shows like One Tree Hill get such good music and good people. So he came and saw me play. He was really into the songs I played and he said, “I really want to use those on the show.” So the first song was “War Sweater” and he used that on the season finale last year [Episode 6.24, Remember Me As A Time Of Day].

Then Mark and I just really became friends. It wasn’t about a professional relationship for us. When he came to New York, we’d hang out. When I went to L.A., we’d hang out. And then he was here a few months ago and we were finishing this new album we working on so I called him and said, “Hey man, I want to play you my new album,” just ‘cause he’s my friend. So we sat down and I played it for him and he was like, “I’m really into this. I really like this music and I want to help you release it. Why don’t I write you a few cameos on the show and we’ll try to have you perform on the show and bring as much attention to the project as we can?” And I was like, “Oh, this is amazing!” He knew I was a bartender–I was bartending at the time–so he wrote this little cameo for me as the bartender on the show and that went really well so that led to another. They wrote me into the next episode and then the next one and the next thing you know, now I’m Grubbs on the show and kind of a regular occurrence on it. It’s kind of cool.

TDW: How familiar were you with the show previously?

Grubbs: I had watched the earlier seasons of the show but had fallen out of touch with it for a while. I love TV and I love to watch TV but I’m kind of more of a sci-fi nerd. I really like Battlestar Galactica and nerdy stuff like that. Lost. Those are my shows. So the drama stuff hadn’t really been as much on my radar for a while so I didn’t really know what I was getting into. It was really cool to see once I actually started researching the show and catching up on what was going on. It changed so much and was so good. They had these really exciting new characters and I was just really proud to be a part of the show at this point.

TDW: It’s funny because a lot people didn’t know you were an actual musician. I saw some comments online saying, “Wait–was the bartender the guy at the piano at the end of that episode?” when you performed “Brooklyn” [Episode 7.12, Some Roads Lead Nowhere]. People explained to them that, yes, it was the character of Grubbs at the piano but the actor is also Mike Grubbs who has his own band.

Grubbs: Everyone started to piece it together. I can’t say for sure what’s going to happen but I think it might become more clear to people in the next few episodes what my part is in everything.

TDW: Was there ever a question of what name to give the character or was it just Grubbs from the outset?

Grubbs: Mark had always known me as Grubbs. That was my nickname throughout college. So it was like, what kind of bartender name can they give me? And I guess at that point, the natural name was just Grubbs. I mean, that’s who I am and he wanted the character to be as much like me as possible. So that was pretty locked in pretty early.

TDW: You were in a few episodes before we actually saw you perform rather than have that aspect of your character revealed right off the bat. Do you know what went into that decision?

Grubbs: I just think it’s something that’s maybe more exciting for the viewers, to watch the growth of the character that way. I also think, in all honesty, that Mark just wanted to make sure that I didn’t completely suck before he put me on as this character. The fact that I started as just this bartender gives us a little more arc to the character, makes it a little more exciting. But that’s really who I am. I’ve been this guy who is working every day and living a really real, normal existence just tending bar and working like everyone else. I’m not someone who’s just a musician. It kind of humanizes the character as well.

TDW: You are, without a doubt, the most recognizable face of Wakey!Wakey! but the other people you play with, what have they said about your experiences on the show?

Grubbs: They’re really stoked about it. They, of course, love the attention it brings to the project and everything. It’s really fun. The first episode I was ever on, we got together and it was just a small group of friends. They were all really close friends to me because I didn’t want it to be–like all of my friends came to me and said, “We have to throw a huge party! You’re going to be on TV!” and all this stuff. Everyone was really excited. But I wanted it to be quiet because I wanted people to actually watch the show. I didn’t want it to be a raging party with the TV on in the background and then we’d just miss it. So we kept it really small but the majority of the band was there for that. They’re super-supportive, they’re super into it and they’re really excited about it. They’re proud of me and they’re happy. It’s cool.

TDW: Can you give us any hints on what’s coming up with Grubbs and how many more episodes you’ll be in?

Grubbs: I don’t really know for a fact but I think you’re going to be seeing a fair amount more of me. But as far as what’s going to happen to my character, all I can say is of the scripts I’ve read so far, it’s really cool and it’s really exciting. People are going to love it.

TDW: There’s two little fandoms brewing. There’s some people who think Grubbs and Miranda [India de Beaufort] are going to have something going on.

Grubbs: I’ve definitely heard that one.

TDW: And there’s others that are looking for some cougar action with Victoria [Daphne Zuniga].

Grubbs: Yeah, you know, I’ve actually seen people suggest that. I saw another one suggesting I get together with Sophia Bush [Brooke], which is really funny because I love that people not only want to pair me with Brooke but her mother as well! I love that people are speculating about it because it means maybe I’m doing my job well or the writers are doing their job well and people are excited about it. As far as who my character will end up with, man, I think that all of those actresses you just mentioned are the coolest chicks in the world and I would be thrilled to be with any of them.

TDW: That’s a great answer. So what would you say has been the easiest thing working on the show, the most difficult and the most surprising?

Grubbs:I would say the easiest part of working on the show has been how accepting the cast has been of me. The first night that I got down there, James Lafferty [Nathan], Stephen Colletti [Chase] and Shantel VanSanten [Quinn]–and, actually, I think Robert Buckley [Clay] was there as well. All these people came out. I think Mark set it up so that everyone I was working on my first scene with came out to meet me so I would be comfortable with everyone the next day and they would know who I was. Honestly, they are just the most accepting and wonderful people you can ever think of working with.

That actually leads really well to the next question, the most difficult part of working on the show. It’s funny because the most difficult part of the show for me is getting used to acting on camera. I have an actual background in theater and I’ve done a lot of acting before as a theater actor but never as a screen actor so the changeover to that has been really challenging for me. I really feel lucky to have such great people on set with me and working with me to kind of teach me. The scenes that I have with India or Sophia or [Bethany Joy Galeotti, Haley], there’s always sweet, little hints that they give me. You know, “Keep your eyes up here,” “Make sure the camera catches this kind of thing”–things that you really want to look out for when filming these kind of things and it’s really amazing how much they’ve helped me. So the most difficult thing has been getting used to filming.

The most surprising thing I think was definitely how big the production scale is. I knew what One Tree Hill was, I had seen the show before and I knew Mark and all that stuff but you never can imagine what it’s like to be on set and in the process of filming until you’re there. There’s literally like a hundred crew members, a hundred extras. There’s things flying around past your head–cameras, lights, everything. It’s really overwhelming. So probably the scale of it is the most surprising thing.

TDW: Do you have any favorite anecdotes from the set or from hanging out with everyone?

Grubbs: Wow. There’s just so many great moments we have down there. When the cast goes out, it’s always a blast because everyone is super cool. We really are like a family. My favorite anecdote ever would be the first episode that I did down there [Episode 7.09, Now You Lift Your Eyes To The Sun]. Like I said before, it was completely overwhelming to me. The first day I walked on set, I didn’t know where I could go or what I could do, what was off-limits, when I was making a fool of myself. It was a whole different world and I didn’t know the etiquette of it or anything. As the day went on, I slowly became more comfortable and suddenly, before I knew it, the day was over and the episode was over for me. The first episode I was in, it was just a very small scene. So they wrapped the day and Mark Schwahn was on set and Sophia Bush was directing and, as they wrapped, finishing my last take, I didn’t really know what was going on because they do so many different takes and so many different angles and everything so I didn’t know if they were turning around or whatever and then one of the guys that works with us and says “Hey, man. That’s it for the day. You did a great job. We’re all done.” And I was like, “Okay, cool” and I kind of had a “That’s it?” moment, you know, where I was like, “Okay, well, I guess I go home now and I don’t know if I’ll ever be back” because at first it was just like a one episode cameo. So I was slowly kind of wandering off set, not knowing where to go or what to do and I heard someone yell from the other side of the room–to this day, I’m not sure who it was. I don’t know if it was Mark. I don’t know if it was Sophia. Austin Nichols [Julian] was on set that day; it could’ve been him. It could’ve been one of the other producers. All the guys that work on the show are just so cool. But somebody yells, “Hey, everybody! Can you just stop what you’re doing”–and, literally, at this point there’s like a 100 crew members on set and a 100 extras so I’m in a room with 200 people and everyone stops and turns around–“Can everyone please put their hands together for Michael Grubbs. It’s his first day ever on set, wrapping his first-ever episode” and the whole room just burst out. By that time I was friends with everybody and everyone was cheering for me. That was probably the coolest moment ever in the whole process so far.

TDW: That’s sweet. How is Wilmington treating you? It’s a bit different than Brooklyn…

Grubbs: Wilmington is quite different from Brooklyn. But it’s a really cool town. I don’t think people realize how great they have it there. The people that I’ve met, the locals and stuff, are all super sweet and super kind. There’s some really cool bars, some really cool restaurants down there, too. It’s a great scene. There’s some great little clothing stores. There’s a little place called Edge of Urge that I try to hit once every time I’m down there. They have great clothes. It’s funny that I would go all the way to Wilmington to buy clothes when I live in Brooklyn, a place where there’s so many great stores and stuff but that’s just something in Wilmington they do really well.

TDW: What’s next for Wakey!Wakey!?

Grubbs: The next thing we have coming out is this album on February 2nd. It’s called “Almost Everything I Wish I’d Said The Last Time I Saw You.” It’s our first real live studio album and we’re super proud of it. We got really great distribution so it’s going to be widely available and just kind of another introduction of Wakey!Wakey! to America so I’m really excited to see how that goes and get that out there.

TDW: You’ve done a great job of capitalizing on social media tools like Twitter and video blogs. What value do you think they have?

Grubbs: I think there’s a big difference between actors and musicians. One of the big differences is actors, unless they’re trying to build some general form of celebrity, really want their social media to be private because they’re not trying to brand themselves. They’re trying to get people to watch the show that they’re on. They don’t really want people to take as much interest in them. For someone like myself–or India’s actually in the same boat. She’s a fantastic singer and has a MySpace page and has a lot of great music on it. For someone like her or someone like me, using Twitter, using blogs, using MySpace and different outlets to get to people to kind of spread the word of what we’re doing with the band and other stuff is a totally vital tool. I want people to know me. I want people to know my band. I want people to feel comfortable with me and my music and everything. One Tree Hill fans are so cool and so supportive of the show and they work really hard to find music. If a song’s on the show, everybody goes and finds it, which is just amazing. If they like it on the show, they talk about it and they get out there and they’re asking about it. They have just such a great community online, I’d be stupid not to talk to them and try and put my name out there as much as possible and get people to see me and follow me on Twitter and come to my Facebook page. So I think social networking is just vital. Not to mention the way it allows me to interact with the fans and just kind of connect with them; it’s really cool. I would say it’s absolutely a vital tool for anyone and definitely something to watch. So I hope everyone comes and follows me on Twitter!

TDW: You’ve had people send you questions through Twitter that you then answer through videoblogs on your Tumblr. How did that start?

Grubbs: The first day I was on set, my manager told me our goal should be to answer every question we got on Twitter and kind of let all the other stuff go. The first appearance I had on the show, the response was pretty overwhelming. We got hundreds of letters and stuff. So to respond to everyone was pretty possible. I sat down and tried to respond to all the tweets one by one and it took me like a week. I finally got it done and I went to my manager and was like, “There’s no way I can do this. There’s no way I can make this my life because all I would do is sit there and answer tweets.” So we decided the best way to do it would be to do the series “Ask Grubbs.” Basically every Wednesday what we do is I’ll sit down and pick some random questions from Twitter–I can’t answer them all but I’ll pick as many as I can–and answer them on a videoblog. So every Wednesday they can come check it out and maybe they’ll see me answer their question on the blog. It’s kind of cool that way. It’s a great way for me to easily connect with people. For instance, on the last one that I posted, there was a girl that said she fell down and hurt her leg and she was at home with ice on it listening to Wakey!Wakey!. Such a sweet, sweet little message and for me to tweet back to that seems kind of shallow. To just say, “Oh, thanks. I hope your leg feels better” seems empty. So if I get to actually go on camera and say, “Hey, you! Thank you for listening to us and I’m glad that we’re making you feel better,” it feels a lot more direct.

Come back tomorrow night after One Tree Hill to find out how you can win an autographed copy of “Almost Everything I Wish I’d Said The Last Time I Saw You” and get a shout-out on Grubbs’  blog.

Then come back next week for another exclusive interview!

TDW Interview Index





News Roundup: One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, 90210 and More

20 10 2009
  • Be sure to check out The CW’s site for all the new video content this week.
  • Last night’s One Tree Hill (2.2 million viewers) and Gossip Girl (2.0 million viewers rounded up) has a decent drop in the ratings, compared to last week.  Gossip Girl technically didn’t even hit the 2 million mark (again, I rounded up).
  • The CW Source has a podcasts for last week’s episodes of One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl.
  • Joe Davola (executive producer, One Tree Hill) recorded a message reminding fans to watch last night.
  • Here is the Mark Schwahn preview for next week’s One Tree Hill.
  • The One Tree Hill Connection has a podcast with Lisa Goldstein (Millie).  Have you read my interview with Goldstein?
  • E!Online has Gossip Girl spoilers.
  • According to Gossip Cop, Victoria Beckham guest-starring on Gossip Girl is not a done deal.
  • Penn Badgley (Dan, Gossip Girl) spoke with Cosmopolitan about fashion.
  • Kristen Bell (Gossip Girl, Gossip Girl) is on the cover of the November issue of Women’s Health.
  • You can vote to nominate Gossip Girl, Blake Lively (Serena, Gossip Girl) and Joshua Jackson (Pacey, Dawson’s Creek) for a People’s Choice Award.
  • Korbi has a video interview with Gillian Zinser (Ivy, 90210).
  • There’s pictures of Jessica Lowndes (Adrianna, 90210) appearing on America’s Next Top Model.  The episode airs tomorrow.
  • Jennie Garth (Kelly, Beverly Hills 90210) appears in PETA’s Save the Seals campaign.
  • Ausiello has a fun video with Aimee Teegarden (Rhonda, 90210).
  • HitFix has an interview with Jessica Lucas (Kimberly, 90210).  She talks about a 90210-Melrose Place crossover and about working with Daphne Zuniga (Victoria, One Tree Hill).
  • Korbi has interviews with both  Lucas and Zuniga.
  • Sasha Alexander (Gretchen, Dawson’s Creek) has joined the cast of House.
  • Mischa Barton (Marissa, The O.C.) said she’s going to stop pursuing television roles.
  • MTV has two articles on Olivia Wilde (Alex, The O.C.).







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