Hep Happenings with Hep Alien

Some great bits of news for Hep Alien fans everywhere. Let’s take them in the order in which they appear in this picture, shall we?

Todd Lowe (Zach) has been confirmed as a regular for the second season of HBO’s modern vampire saga, True Blood. He first popped up in the second episode.

John Cabrera (Brian) should be making his debut in this season’s run of The Office. In the meantime, he and writing partner Cosimo De Tommaso are developing a new Web series for a studio you all know very well. Your best bet is to check his blog often for details as they become available.

Finally, you reality TV addicts probably already know that rock n’ roll wildman Gil, Sebastian Bach, won the second season of CMT’s Gone Country. His debut country single is out now. Here it is:

Zach Chat

Cheers to Todd Lowe, the actor who gave us the sweet-but-slow Hep Alien guitarist and Mr. Lane Kim, Zach van Gerbig. The actor and musician took time out of his busy day to talk to me about Stars Hollow life, the Austin theater and film scene that nurtured him, and his part in a bit of musical theater from years ago called The Tower Massacre Musical, based on the University of Texas-Austin shooting spree of Charles Whitman. (I don’t know why, but this concept sounds intriguing to me.)

Every bit as laid back as Zach, Todd was very forthcoming about life on the set, helping me better piece together what went on behind the scenes for the book.

Recently he found himself back on the Warner Brothers lot where Gilmore Girls was shot, this time for a modern vampire series for HBO called True Blood, which premieres Sept. 7 at 9 PM (not sure if this is Eastern or Pacific Time, so check those listings). He appears briefly in the first or second episode, but will play a larger role later in the season. I didn’t ask him if he actually gets to sport some fangs because, quite frankly, if he does, I think we’d all like to be surprised.