PaleyFest Riverdale and Stranger Things Panels 2018

Last weekend I attended two panels at the 35th Annual PaleyFest at the Dolby Theater in downtown Los Angeles. The panels I attended were for Riverdale and Stranger Things, which took place on March 25, 2018. For those of you who may not know, PaleyFest is a week long event held by The Paley Center for Media each year. Multiple panels are featured each day throughout the week, hosting the casts and creators of many popular TV shows. Anyone can buy tickets to the event, but if you are thinking of attending next year, make sure to get your tickets right when they go on sale, because they sell out fast. You can find out more information about PaleyFest by clicking here.

Now more on the panels themselves! I attended PaleyFest for the first time last year, for the panels of This is Us and Pretty Little Liars. Since it was my first time attending, there were some things I wish I had known when attending the panels, which I kept in mind for this year. Number one on this list was that we were allowed to bring cameras, so I made sure to have mine with me this year, and managed to get some pretty great shots, which you can see below. I have been lucky enough to attend both years of PayleyFest with my boyfriend's cousin, and close friend of mine, Andrea, and we have had a blast each time, getting to learn more about some of our favorite shows.

Both of the panels this year were really great, and I love both of the shows so much, so it was a great experience to get to hear from their cast and creators. The Riverdale panel kicked off with a pre-screening to us of the upcoming musical episode, which won't be premiering until almost the end of April. Now I'm not allowed to say anything about the plot of the episode, but let me just say for all of the Riverdale fans out there, it was awesome, and probably one of my favorite episodes of the show to date. I am a sucker for musical TV episodes, and this one was no exception. I can't wait to watch it again when it premieres live!

In attendance at this panel was KJ Apa (Archie Andrews), Lili Reinhart (Betty Cooper), Camila Mendes (Veronica Lodge), Cole Sprouse (Jughead Jones), Marisol Nichols (Hermione Lodge), Madelaine Petsch (Cheryl Blossom), Ashleigh Murray (Josie McCoy), Skeet Ulrich (F.P. Jones), Mӓdchen Amick (Alice Cooper), Luke Perry (Fred Andrews), Greg Berlanti (Executive Producer), Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Show Runner and Executive Producer), and Jon Goldwater (CEO of Archie Comics).

We were pretty close to the stage for this panel, so I managed to get some really up close shots which you can see below. And if you want to find out what the cast had to say during the panel, you can click here for a link to the live streaming of it. For me personally, it was such an interesting panel to listen to, because Luke Perry and Skeet Ulrich were such teen idols of their time, and now, they are playing the role of the parents in a completely new type of teen drama. So to hear about their experiences, and how it was meshing with a cast of relatively new comers to the business was a great experience. And of course, as a kid I loved the Suite Life of Zack and Cody, so getting to hear from Cole made me fan girl just a little bit.

from left to right: Madelaine Petsch (Cheryl), KJ Apa (Archie), Camila Mendes (Veronica), Lili Reinhart (Betty), and Cole Sprouse (Jughead)

from left to right: Camila Mendes (Veronica), and Lili Reinhart (Betty)

from left to right: Cole Sprouse (Jughead), Ashleigh Murray (Josie), Mӓdchen Amick (Alice), and Skeet Ulrich (FP)

from left to right: KJ Apa (Archie), Camila Mendes (Veronica), Lili Reinhart (Betty), and Cole Sprouse (Jughead)

from left to right: Marisol Nichols (Hermione), Madelaine Petsch (Cheryl), KJ Apa (Archie), Camila Mendes (Veronica), Lili Reinhart (Betty), and Cole Sprouse (Jughead)

from left to right: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (show runner and executive producer), luke perry (fred), Marisol Nichols (Hermione), Madelaine Petsch (Cheryl)

from left to right: KJ Apa (Archie), and Camila Mendes (Veronica)

After an awesome Riverdale panel, next up was Stranger Things! I have become obsessed with this show, and so when I saw that they were going to be at PaleyFest, I knew it was going to be the top panel I wanted to see. And it was so worth it. While we didn't get to see any new episodes of the Netflix hit, we did get to re-watch the first episode of season two on the big screen, which was such a unique experience. And the panel its self was also a great experience. I was in awe at how eloquently all of the younger actors spoke, and knew their characters. And it was so amazing to get to see such well respected actors like Winona Ryder and Sean Astin speak.

In attendance at this panel was Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Sadie Sink ('Mad' Max Mayfield), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven/Jane Hopper), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Paul Reiser (Dr Sam Owens), Sean Astin (Bob Newby), Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), and executive producer and director Shawn Levy.

I got some pretty great shots of this panel as well despite not being as close to the stage, which you can check out below! And if you would like to see the live stream of this panel, you can watch it by clicking here.

From left to right: Paul Reiser (Dr Sam Owens), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven/Jane Hopper), and Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair)

from left to right: Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Sadie Sink ('Mad' Max Mayfield), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), and Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers)

from left to right: executive producer and director Shawn Levy, Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), and Sean Astin (Bob Newby)

from left to right: executive producer and director Shawn Levy, Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), Sean Astin (Bob Newby), and Paul Reiser (Dr Sam Owens)

from left to right: Sadie Sink ('Mad' Max Mayfield), and Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler)

from left to right: Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), Sean Astin (Bob Newby), Paul Reiser (Dr Sam Owens), and David Harbour (Jim Hopper)

from left to right: Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), and Sean Astin (Bob Newby)

From left to right: David Harbour (Jim Hopper), and Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven/Jane Hopper)

Overall, I had an amazing time at PaleyFest, and was glad I got to share the experience with Andrea. We both love film so much, and it was a great thing for us to be able to do together. I can't wait to see what the line-up for next year will be, because I will definitely be going again!

All of the photographs featured in this post are my own, and were taken and edited by myself. Use of these photos in any way without my permission is strictly prohibited. I am in no way affiliated with, or sponsored by PaleyFest, just a fan in attendance giving my honest review.