TCA Press Tour Recap: The CW Does Vampires, Models & 'Melrose'

The network portion of the TV Critics' Press Tour continued on Tuesday with The CW's half-day of panels for their new fall lineup. You can follow me for all the notable moments and breaking news on Twitter (@TheTVShowGirl), but here's a handy recap of the day's events.

The CW presented panels for 'The Vampire Diaries,' 'The Beautiful Life,' 'Melrose Place' and 'Life Unexpected.' Then, TCA members get a special treat -- a fieldtrip to the sets of 'Private Practice' and 'Castle,' which I'll tell you more about later.

Click here to see all the highlights ...The network portion of the TV Critics' Press Tour continued on Tuesday with The CW's half-day of panels for their new fall lineup. You can follow me for all the notable moments and breaking news on Twitter (@TheTVShowGirl), but here's a handy recap of the day's events.

The CW presented panels for 'The Vampire Diaries,' 'The Beautiful Life,' 'Melrose Place' and 'Life Unexpected.' Now, TCA members get a special treat -- a fieldtrip to the sets of 'Private Practice' and 'Castle,' which I'll tell you more about later.

Here are the highlights from panels:

We're Not 'Twilight'
'The Vampire Diaries' cast was given the expected 'Twilight'/'True Blood' line of questioning, but stars and producers maintain that these vamps are different. Case in point: They can go out in the daytime thanks to a nifty magical vampire ring. See? Lead Paul Wesley also insisted he hasn't seen 'Twilight' ... then ended it by saying he thought they did a great job. From the trailers he saw, I guess ...

Mischa, Mischa, Mischa!
TV critics exhibited a rare moment of restraint in 'The Beautiful Life' panel. We were several Ashton Kutcher-related questions in before anyone breached the most buzz-worthy topic: fresh-outta-rehab star Mischa Barton. Said producer Kutcher: "She was never unavailable for a day of work." (Um, because you pushed the start of production!) Also: "She's done it before. Her navigation and guidance for the rest of the cast was essential." Questionable at best. Fun fact: One critic noted that master of 140-characters or less Kutcher (@aplusk) has more Twitter followers than several CW shows have viewers; he responded that he expects the mediums to merge.



Network-ing
Spotted: Even 'Vampire Diaries' star Nina Dobrev wants a piece of the 'TBL' cast -- she came onstage after their panel to hug and kiss stars Sara Paxton and Corbin Bleu. Awww.

Let's Talk About Sex
Between the prostitute and the vixen who's more than bicurious ("We call her tri-sexual, which is she'll try anything," laughs producer Todd Slavkin), the 'Melrose Place' redux is the sexiest show on The CW. So are there plans for a gay character or two? Producers: "Yes. Keep watching." And what about Katie Cassidy (who plays the aforementioned tri-sexual) admitting she's never seen the original? From the shrugs of the panel and the look of disappointment from Michael Mancini himself (Thomas Calabro), we hope someone gets these kids the box set soon.

Unexpectedly Touching
The most delightfully un-CW show is 'Life Unexpected,' a dramedy described as being "like 'Juno' meets 'Gilmore Girls,'" coming to the network midseason in 2010. Starring 'Roswell''s Shiri Appleby and 'Dawson's Creek''s Kerr Smith, and helmed by alums of both 'Dawson's' and 'Gilmore,' the show feels like a touching WB throwback in the best possible way.

Tomorrow: NBC's panels. Follow all my live updates on Twitter (@TheTVShowGirl)!

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