Kristen Bell. Damn. I thought, in my twenties, I would outgrow celebrity crushes...

Kentonist | August 02, 14:11 CET

Wow, way to speak in past tense, Kristen. Dude aint dead.

numbereleven | August 02, 14:44 CET

Upon actually reading the excerpt, it makes more sense. Haha... just the teaser sounds weird.

numbereleven | August 02, 14:45 CET

Finally saw her episodes of Deadwood last night. She really is brilliant. Please let the US nielson box people recognise that brilliance this season so we get a full order of VM and then a 4th season.

Paul_Rocks | August 02, 15:15 CET

Plus she is on the cover of some fitness magazine this month- in a bikini, and she is as buff and skinny as Alyson Hannigan. Not that I was staring or anything....

Dana5140 | August 02, 15:43 CET

I finally got the Veronica Mars season one boxset and watched the first three episodes. And I finally see that the hype is justified. From the little I've seen it's excellent, good acting, intriguing storylines, genre straddling, and it has the same kind of offbeat, quirky touch that can be found in Joss' stuff. I definitely think it's very different, though, and I'm not at the stage where I would say it's as good as Buffy, Angel or Firefly. But it's definitely on the level just below the Whedon floor. Like the Abrahms floor (which I consider a compliment).

And it's nice to see that Kristen Bell speaks nicely of Joss. I do think a lot of people tuned into VM because of the postitive comparisons with Buffy and the appearances of Alyson, Charisma and Joss, so his legacy definitely helped them out.

I think Kristen was much luckier getting the role of VM than Chloe in Smallville. I have started watching season four of Smallville, and I honestly think that whilst it's entertaining, it had the potential to be so much better, and the three characters who really stand out for me are Lex, Lionel and Chloe. So I do think Kirsten could have been a great part of a subpar show, but instead she's a vital part of an excellent show.

Razor | August 02, 18:39 CET

Well, she was speaking in the past tense of herself to begin with, so the natural inclination for most people would be not to tense-jump midsentence :) So, lets put those stakes away!

zeitgeist | August 02, 18:55 CET

I started watching Veronica Mars this summer after hearing it positively compared to the Jossverse and was surprised at how good a television show it was. I have never had much confidence in UPN shows, so this surprised me. It's not Joss Whedon's work (natch), but it is better than the many shows out there that are just taking up space, catering to the lowest common denominator.

I just got caught up with Season 2 by reading TwoP and stuff.
Can't wait for season 3 to begin this October.

teachndoc | August 02, 19:39 CET

Excellent interview. I certainly hope the show has an improvement in ratings on the CW. I feel Rob is really getting a handle on this show, be nice if he gets a full season to prove it. I think the shorter mystery arcs should help. The first season's Lilly arc was well done because the story kept advancing thru-out the season. Last year's bus crash arc kept jumping around a bit to much.

The Joss cameo was great. Stephen King wanted to do a cameo this year but they couldn't work out the scheduling. Too bad, that would've been quite a scene.

Madhatter | August 02, 19:51 CET

I love the show, its great. If I could afford it I'd buy everyone a copy of the first season DVD boxset to spread the love.

Anyway, nice to see Kristen Bell praising Joss. Would be funny to see him return on the show.

Ashley | August 02, 22:35 CET

Thoughts on VM: started watching it for two reasons: 1) Saw the clip where Joss cameos, then heard that Alyson Hannigan and Charisma Carpenter (who, by the way, has somehow managed to get even hotter since Buffy/Angel) show up from time to time; 2) Watched everything else, including all of the Whedonverse, Twin Peaks, BSG, Smallville, and Dr. Who. Overall, I like the show. Kristin Bell is hot, the stories, both over-arching and single-episode, are pretty good, it's funny, and the actors are pretty good (except the guy who played Duncan, but I guess that's why he's gone). My only real complaints with the show are that the flashback gimmick is way overused, some of the cinematography is cheesy, and the show (and the network) isn't sure whether it wants to be the OC or Nancy Drew.

I don't agree with VM's ultra-grim take of high school life (even harsher than how My So-Called Life looked at it), and I don't like the complete castration of the legal system (the show's message is that justice is unreliable, but vengeance always works), but I think both ideas are presented excellently. Add to that Veronica oscillating between being a really great friend and a manipulative b*tch, and you have a decent show (I give it an 8.9/10).

As for her on Smallville, I happen to think she's a better actress (and hotter) than Allison Mack, so I'd love to see her there, even though Veronica's character is way more interesting and has more growth potential (if Chloe isn't dead by the end of next season, I'll eat someone else's hat...because I like all my hats). I'll keep un-related discussions of Smallville off this post for now. So here's hoping the show sticks around, although I think there's a good chance that the show's lack of self-definition will be its downfall. Until then: "Annoy little blond girl, annoy like the wind!"

BoltRider | August 03, 00:12 CET

Chinatown is one of my favorite movies of all time -- I love me some noir, and I really enjoy VM's take on the genre. Season one was brilliant, and two was definitely of high (if lesser) quality. I think the shortened mysteries will help a lot, because it seemed like things veered off course for a while last season, though they certainly ended up righting the ship.

For fans of noir, Brick is a movie you should definitely check out. It's a much more literal take on noir than VM (both are set in a high school), but equally brilliant.

P.S. This is my first posting. Hello everyone!

MikeyMo | August 03, 05:24 CET

Welcome Mikey!

BoltRider | August 03, 21:55 CET