Rueben's Ramblings

Timothy Olyphant and Elmore Leonard

Last week the critically-acclaimed FX series Justified aired the season premiere of its third season; and on that same night at the Paley Center for Media, a special panel was held featuring lead actor Timothy Olyphant, series creator Graham Yost and legendary author Elmore Leonard for whom wrote the story on which Justified is based.

Before the panel got underway, the audience was given the opportunity to screen the season premiere and then was greeted by moderator Andrea Grossman, founder of Writer’s Bloc, a 16-year-running non-profit organization dedicated to the written word.

Throughout the night, the three gentlemen were asked a series of questions ranging from how the series came to fruition on FX; what was it about Raylan Givens that sparked with TV viewers more than any of Mr. Leonard’s other characters and what the audience can expect from Raylan this season (among other topics).

The evening was filled with interesting tidbits, including the inspiration behind Mr. Leonard’s well-known character Karen Sisco, who was based on a real female Marshal who left an impression on Mr. Leonard during a visit to Miami; that Mr. Yost uses Elmore’s words in a lot of his scripts; that FX was very interested in the show and that the network didn’t require stand-alone procedural stories, but instead wanted big stories where time could be spent with the “bad” guys; and that Mr. Olyphant has never worked harder on a show like he does on Justified.

Graham Yost and Timothy Olyphant

Some of the talk was also focused on the new book for which Mr. Leonard wrote entitled “Raylan” that is not only on bookstands (and available online) right now but also copies of which Mr. Leonard was to autograph that night at the end of the panel. Some of the storylines featured in the book will also be worked into the series, including some gruesome “do-it-yourself” surgeries.

Before the panel ended for the night, the audience had their chance to ask questions which ranged from asking about the accents used by the cast members, many of whom are actually from the South, learning that Timothy worked with a professional dialect coach; if there was any chance of Margo Martindale coming back to the show (she played Mags Bennett who died in the season two finale episode) [she won’t be unfortunately as Mags storyline played out as it was intended in season two]; if there have been any actors who have asked to be on the show, with the reveal that Jeremy Davies did just that and that is how his character – Dickie Bennett – came to be and a brief talk about the impact the women on the show will have in this new season, including a guest appearance by actress Carla Gugino (who played Karen Sisco in the failed TV series of the same name) who will appear as a different character, who has a past with Raylan.

The next new episode of Justified will air tonight on FX at 10 PM.