Just shortly after Shawn Hatosy left our chat, C Thomas Howell joined us. This was the second time that he did! Per his request, we were not in the moderator’s mode so I hope you will be able to follow.

Also in the chat room at the same time was Lee Lofland, author of Police Procedure and Investigation, A Guide for Writers, host and founder of the Writers’ Police Academy, and who writes and maintains The Graveyard Shift, a blog for writers about cops and writers. Links will be found in the chat.

C_Thomas_Howell joined.
snowprince Just wanted to tell you Lee, great blog. Fellow retired bluesuit here
bob Tommy is back!
lisa0914 Wb, Cth!
coopman Cth
trojan yay!
gingercara Welcome back Tommy! (continue reading…)

Our regular Thursday night chat turned into a treat for fans when cast member Shawn Hatosy (Sammy) joined us for a Q&A chat. We went into moderator mode so as not to overwhelm Shawn with the nearly 175 questions that were submitted. Shortly after Shawn left, C Thomas Howell (Dewey) stopped by also. We will be posting that transcript in the next couple of days.

Make sure to join us every Thursday at 9:00 pm Eastern time for our weekly chat. We never know who will stop by to join us.

Below is a transcript and there are a couple of things you should know.

You will see the name of the person/chatter. The chatter’s name will have a letter in parenthesis after it, indicating that it is a Comment ( C ), Question ( Q ), or just a Post (P) to the chat room. If it’s a comment or question, then Shawn (“shawnyhats”) will have an Answer (A) following.

jbeaton(Q) Where was the scene filmed where the gang member had to dig the hole?

shawnyhats(A) Lancaster — way out in the middle of nowhere –the actor who played the banger was incredible

maryellen(Q) Shawn, is there going to be repercussions for Sammy for what he did to the banger?

shawnyhats(A) there might be more to this story — that’s all I’ll say

Kathryn(Q) What has been your favorite scene to shoot this season?

shawnyhats(A) All the scenes with Nate are memorable. I miss that guy — saw him last night at the wrap party (continue reading…)

By Karen Davidson and facilitated by Deb Craig

When we requested an interview, Allison graciously agreed.  Questions were submitted to her; then she wrote her responses and sent them back.   No changes have been made to her responses.

How did you end up directing an episode of SouthLAnd?

My manager Ragna Nervik knew about “Southland” and suggested me to Andrew Stern in John Wells office.  Andrew and I met and we really got along great.  Then I met with Chris Chulack, and he and I had such a great meeting talking about Los Angeles, and the neighborhoods and the life here that is often portrayed on TV and in movies really wrong.    Southland gets it RIGHT.  I also loved how Chris described the way the production is run and how it shoots.  There is a brilliant philosophy behind the style of Southland, and this is what gives us fans that feeling of being right there with the characters.  It’s the way I also shoot my movies.   In fact, I’ve even said, Chris is even more of a querrilla filmmaker than me!  I knew I was going to learn a lot from him.

So I was over-joyed when they offered me an episode.   Believe it or not I was actually supposed to direct Episode 7 of the first season of Southland on NBC!  But as all you Southies know, there was no episode 7 of the first season!  They were canceled before I could direct my episode which Cheo had written, which would have been awesome. (Cheo and I are homies, we met online from being mutual admirers — haa haa:  I loved “Notorious” and he loved “Mi Vida Loca”.  We finally met in person on Southland!)

As disappointing as it was when the show was canceled, I was so happy to be offered an episode again for season 3, and to finally get my Southland break!  And I absolutely loved Jonathan’s script for “Sideways”.  It was so perfect for me. (continue reading…)

CONTEST IS NOW OVER! Winner of 1 Southland Jacket will be announced soon! – SouthlandTvFans.com Staff

Sorry everyone for the delay but here is the review. The contest runs from now until Midnight Pacific time Monday January 24. For complete contest rules please see our earlier posting.

Review & Recap: Let It Snow

By Davina Gantz aka gingercara

Where to begin. Last time we saw a new episode was April. I have watched all the episodes so many times I have them memorized. I, as have so many others, have been anxiously awaiting the new season.

There has been much speculation as to what the new season was going to bring with the show switching networks. Many media sources were able to view the 1st episode of the new season and have written reviews. I have heard nothing but fantastic things about this episode. The promos have given us all a glimpse into what the new season holds. Having  just seen the new episode I had to immediately put my thoughts to paper. So here goes. (continue reading…)

Very positive review / 8 Jan 2011 http://dreamingbetweenthelines.wordpress.com/2011/01/08/the-return-of-southland/

Wells and Biderman negotiated the complex demands of this season opener skilfully; sketching with the lightest of touches enough details of the key players’ back stories to allow new viewers to know them, while accelerating them into new challenges. There were delicate echoes of the pilot “Unknown Trouble,” and also of the last episode aired, “Maximum Deployment,” but these echoes were artfully reframed, with quiet evolutions shaded in.

Michael Cudlitz was the MVP of this episode as John Cooper, fighting his excruciating, debilitating back injuries, and desperately begging for the help of his ex-wife to sustain his painkiller addiction. His tragic, haunting expression as she rushed away from him in tears was the key moment of the episode, locating the show’s heart amidst the chaos and tension. Ben McKenzie also did great work executing the path the writers seem to be laying out for his role, as Ben Sherman drifts from the hotshot, by-the-numbers rookie, to a more experienced, weary, rule-breaking patrol cop. Regina King hit her emotional beats compellingly as Lydia Adams, perpetually dealing with the horror that her detective faces, and never quite getting numb to it.

(continue reading…)