'Game of Thrones,' the long-awaited HBO fantasy drama, finally has a premiere date: April 17.

To satisfy fans who are always clamoring for more tidbits from the show, which is based on a novel of the same name by George R.R. Martin, the network also released new 'GoT' photos Friday; you can find some of those images on this post.

On Thursday, HBO screened a 15-minute trailer drawn from five different 'GoT' episodes for members of the media; you can find my account of that screening here. But the marquee 'GoT' event of last week was the panel on the show at the Television Critics Association winter press tour.

At the TCA panel, Martin, along with the show's executive producers, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, and cast members Emilia Clarke, Sean Bean and Peter Dinklage, fielded questions from the media about 'GoT,' which chronicles the intrigues and struggles of several noble families in the fictional world of Westeros.

Before and after the panel, I spoke with Clarke, Martin, Benioff and Weiss, and I'll post more excerpts from those one-on-one interviews closer to the 'GoT' premiere. But in this post, I wanted to share their answers to a question that came up during the panel: How are they dealing with the expectations of the show's avid and active fan base, one that has closely followed every scrap of 'GoT' information for several years?

What's below are their answers to that question, as well as some thoughts from Clarke on what it was like to have her first major role be a key character in a high-profile HBO project.

Readers of TV Squad know that our fearless editor-in-chief Joel has been at the Television Critics Association press tour, scooping up all the cool news and interviews, and posting them here for all of us to read.

It's a lot of work attending these events; you have to be "on" all the time and not only attend panels, do set visits, conduct interviews, and hob-nob with celebrities, but also write everything up and post it to the site in a timely fashion. I have to give a big shout-out to Joel, because I love seeing all the TCA news coming through.

I'm especially geeked about the news he posted after his set visit to The Office. In case anyone wants to stay spoiler-free (which would be tough regarding this particular news, since it's all over the place and was pretty much a given anyway), I'll post my commentary after the jump.

Lots of news coming out of the Television Critics Association press tour, and a lot of it makes you think that NBC is either a.) filled with mad geniuses who are so ahead of the rest of us that we'll all look back in a few years and realize how prescient they were, or b.) they have no idea how to run a network.

The latest move that TV fans will be talking about is this: prime time entertainment chief Angela Bromstad says that Day One, the new drama from ex-Heroes producer Jesse Alexander, might only last one season and then be done.

The TV Critics' Press Tour saw NBC's family of networks trotting out the stars of their new shows. 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.

For NBC, we saw panels on 'Trauma,' 'Mercy,' 'The Jay Leno Show' and my personal favorite, 'Community,' while also getting news on 'Southland,' 'Friday Night Lights' and 'Chuck.' Then it was USA's 'White Collar' and Syfy's 'Stargate Universe.' But the highlight of my day (OK, week) was the 'Top Chef' quickfire lunch, hosted by Bravo's own Padma Lakshmi and Gail Simmons.

Click here to see all the highlights ...

Somehow, I never imagined that Sarah Jessica Parker's next TV gig after Sex and the City would be a reality show about art. In fact, it makes me a little sad thinking she'll be doing that instead of some fabulous new series with big stars and groovy music.

But, here you have it: Bravo has picked up an art competition reality show from Parker's Pretty Matches production company and producers Magical Elves. They're expected to announce the deal today at the Television Critics Association press tour, so Joel might have more info on this later.

The hour-long show is described by Elves' Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz as a Project Runway-style competition, only with art instead of fashion. Aspiring artists compete to produce various styles of artwork, including painting, sculpting, etc., which is then judged by a panel of experts.

Outside of panels for Jericho (which I'm sure is thrilled to be coming back) and Viva Laughlin (which I'm sure is thrilled to have been picked up), CBS' day two of the press tour is about reality (Survivor: China), game shows (Power of 10), research and new media (that still makes my head spin).

No major mingling with talent until the evening at the CBS Stars Party, which might be just as well.

Sadly, the eye network got snubbed in major categories at the Emmys this morning. Julia Louis-Dreyfus (last year's Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy) for The New Adventures of Old Christine, Two and a Half Men (for Comedy Series) and Men's Charlie Sheen (for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy) got nods in top categories. (CBS did score some supporting nods.)

It's too bad our panel with Chuck Lorre (nominated for Men) and his new show -- The Big Bang Theory -- was yesterday. Like with comedy itself, the most important thing about getting Emmy reaction -- is timing.