Take a bunch of good-looking people, put them in cars and have them race across the country, and what do you get? Drive, the latest series from Tim Minear, who's probably best known for his efforts on Buffy and the cult favorite Firefly. Right after Peter Ligouri gave his executive session, FOX decided to have the Drive cast out on stage for a Q&A. And when I mean the cast, I mean the entire cast; twelve actors, including Nathan Fillion, Dylan Baker and Melanie Lynskey. They were joined by Minear and his fellow executive producers, Ben Queen and Greg Yaitanes.

The most intersting thing about this series is that, while it shows ordinary citizens who are persuaded to participate in an illegal cross-country race for a $32 million prize, all the actors' in-car scenes will be shot in front of green screens. The challenge, according to Minear: "Could you make a show that takes place partially in moving vehicles that go across the country and not make it look bad?" He took a cue from War of the Worlds, which had in-car scenes where the audience saw the environment from all angles, inside and out. The effects experts who did that effect also worked on Drive.

Minear seemed to be pretty glib about his history of being a "cult failure," creating shows that critics love and a small band of fans adore, but inevitably get cancelled in a short period of time. For instance, when he was asked about why, if the race in the show is secret and illegal, how do people hear about it, he replied, "It's sort of like my last three shows on FOX. People hear rumors, then they download it or buy it on DVDs." When asked if he is the Rocky Balboa or Apollo Creed of show runners, he said with a grin, "Some days, the $2 million is hardly worth it." Finally, when asked if the show is going to have different arcs in different seasons, he pleaded mock ignorance by saying, "I've never been past 15 episodes myself."

A surprising face in the cast was Lynskey, who plays a mother who's brings her kids along on the race (in a minivan, no less). She currently plays Rose on Two and a Half Men, but she's leaving that show for the meatier role in Drive. The second surprise? Her New Zealand accent! When I caught up with her after the session, she told me that American accents come easy to her because New Zealand gets a lot of American television, so the accent was has been a natural for her to do. She has a few episodes left as Rose, and there's an opening for her to come back.

More on the show: was it inspired by race movies? Queen said that he was inspired by the movie The Gumball Rally, but noticed that most race movies were more goofy than dramatic. "I wanted something that could be dramatic, and be dark and funny at the same time. It's the car race movie I always wanted to see."

Will there be an end to the race at the end of the season? Yes and no. According to Minear and Yaitanes. There will be some resolution by the end of the season, but parameters of the race will change as the season goes on, as will the motivations of the racers themselves. But he did leave his crew a "warning": " The actors should know we were thinking of calling the show Firey Ball of Death."