Rob Thomas (II)

Rob Thomas: (on lesson learned about working in television from his writing for teens) This is a real easy lesson – don't write for teens. Aim high and write to please yourself.

Rob Thomas: (on working with UPN) I think they're really good. The network loves us and treats us well. They don't try to fix our show, and so often if you're not doing numbers, the network tries to fix it for you. And they have told us, 'You guys are doing the show we want. It's our job to get people to watch it.' Let's hope the network keeps it's word.

Rob Thomas: (on monitoring mystery writing success) At the end of the year, I consider it successful if somewhere between 15 and 25 percent of the audience had the killer picked. That feels like the right number to me. I don't want everybody to get it so that we've been too easy. And I don't want to be so obscure that no one has a chance, because we picked one bellhop who crossed [camera] in Episode 3.

Rob Thomas: (on "Veronica Mars" guest roles) Last season, Veronica fans Joss Whedon and Kevin Smith both had guest appearances on the show, and Thomas revealed that after Stephen King wrote about his love for the series in Entertainment Weekly, he too was offered a role as "a crazy sociology professor", though he was unable to accept the part. We had a very kind note from him, He said, 'I'm actually booked at that time, but I love your show. Keep me in mind for other things.'

Rob Thomas: (on transferring from UPN to the CW) I thought that The CW would be a fantastic thing for us... if we made it onto the network. So I was nervous, because it seemed like there were going to be twice as many shows for the same number of slots, but I felt like if we made it onto the new network that we'd have such a much better chance at survival because The WB was always the network to go to for teen shows.

Rob Thomas: (on making sure Veronica of his show "Veronica Mars" keeps her edge) My fear with the character is never let her get too huggable, too cuddly, too warm. That doesn't seem like what should be our stock and trade on the show. I tell the writers in the room write her like a porcupine.

Rob Thomas: (on casting Keith for "Veronica Mars") Well, I liked Keith in the pilot. But I love Rico. You know, when I was casting Veronica, I saw a lot of terrible actresses. That wasn't the case with Keith -- when you're casting a character actor like that, everyone you see can do a fine job. In Rico's case, we could only see him audition when he came in for the network. But I loved him in Galaxy Quest, and I really liked him for the part. I think what you mention is a case of everyone just getting familiar with the show, including me. I have heard that criticism before, and maybe I could have dialed back his energy ten percent or so, but people would still have wanted another twenty. But I definitely wanted some good energy between him and Veronica. And Rico has been such a positive force in the show and on the set.

Rob Thomas: (about the pilot of "Veronica Mars") However, one other thing that really annoyed me about the script they went with was that they changed the very beginning. The original version of the pilot started at the motel with a voice-over that said "I'm never getting married, and I don't believe in love." You didn't know who was speaking, and then you saw it was this high-school girl. Then Weevil and the bikers pull up and ask about car trouble, and that's the end of the teaser. And then when the action starts at the high school, the caption reads "20 hours earlier."