Gale Harold at the PaleyFest fall 2010

On Wednesday night the CW closed out the PaleyCenter for Media’s Fall Preview screenings with “Nikita” and “Hellcats”. All along they advertised that they would premiere a returning show as well, but that didn’t happen. But no biggie because The Man, The Myth, The Legend, Gale Morgan Harold III was on hand for “Hellcats”.

Because the CW was screening shows that already premiered, it was a lower turnout than the other nights. Normally I couldn’t get into the theater because all the seats were given away (it only seats 125) and I have to squeeze in somewhere in the lobby because the run-off room was filled and the roof was equally crowded. I even stood up for the first hour and half of NBC’s night. But tonight I came in and got a seat in the theater. I went to the lobby at around 6:30 to see the press line and as I was exiting the theater a Center employee asked another if anyone from the show was there yet. I got to the lobby and there’s scant press and no one from the show, whereas other nights it’s usually a huge press line and all those involved with the show are giving interviews. After about ten minutes of waiting Gale and Kevin Murphy (“Hellcats” executive producer) show up to the press line.

All the nights I attended (all but one this year, FOX) there were a group of professional autograph seekers—they have a dozen glossies, get the autographs and then sell them. Which, fine, I’m not going to get in the way of someone’s hustle even though it takes away from actual fans (one guy who had 7 glossies of Gale’s promo pic from “Hellcats” was only there to get the autographs and then leave. If that wasn’t bad enough he commented that Gale looks older in real life than in his picture. I muttered, “Heretic”.

Gale is so good at this press thing now. It’s amazing to see. It’s different now I guess where it’s tolerable because the early years of QAF when the attention was so fervent and off the wall intense we could all tell it was overwhelming for him. He still have outrageously loyal fans—check out any comment on any article about Gale and you’ll see—but he’s had the distance where he’s not interacting with fans at events, so I think now it’s at a level he can bear. Or maybe it’s just then it was new to him that now he’s acclimated. Whatever the reason he was sensational with the fans. He’s still Gale. He’s as approachable and easy going as he always is when there aren’t women propositioning him or talking about seeing him naked. He literally had to be pulled away by a handler. He kept saying sorry to the crowd.

He was signing the million glossies for the autograph hounds and taking pictures with people when this woman kept calling out his name and he stopped and asked, “Who’s that? Where are you?” He was serious about finding who was calling his name. He stopped everything and craned his neck looking at the crowd and I pointed to the woman who was trying to make her way to the front with her kid. She asked if he could take a picture with her daughter, then herself. He crouched down to take the pic. He’s so sublime.

A few minutes later is when he was ushered to the Green Room to get ready for the panel. On hand were Gale, Kevin Murphy and Craig Silverstein, executive producer of “Nikita” and the night was moderated by Will Keck of TV Guide. Will wasn’t as good as Craig Tomashoff the West Coast Bureau chief of TV Guide who is a rock star at moderating panels. But what Will lacked in terms of asking good questions, he made up for it with his love for Gale.

He introduced Gale as someone who had sex with men all along Canada, a remark where people either laughed knowingly or people were silent because he didn’t say, “Gale as Brian” or “Gale played a man who…” so I think people were thinking, “Did he just out him? Did he just call him a man whore?” Will also suggests that Gale should play Nikita and Gale jokes that he tried on the dress and looked good.

Then when Will was talking about the shot of Maggie Q as Nikita getting out of the pool in a bikini and how much he loved it, the audience laughed like, “We know you do, randy guy you.” And turned to the audience, laughed and said, “I’m gay, I want to see Gale in a bikini.” To which Kevin replied, “You may see that.”

Like I said, Gale is so much better at public speaking now and although it took him over a minute to begin talking after being asked a question by Keck, he answered without his usual “um”s. He still rambles in the most delightful way, but at least he answers.

Like he was asked what was his experience with cheerleaders like in school; what was his memories of the cheerleaders? Gale says that his sister was one and really good at it, but he mostly remembers the crowd interaction in the stands about what was going on on the field, “Did you see that? What did she do?” And he starts talking about midfield and 50 yard lines and things I know nothing of and he really didn’t answer anything per se about cheerleaders, but there you go.