When the Human Target cast and crew pauses to answer some questions, the questions they often get are vague or not even about the show. We have to give props to NJ.com for knowing about both the comic and the earlier television show with Rick Springfield and asking a very good question.

A more human 'Human Target'?: Nerd alert: At the panel for the new Fox action series "Human Target," I asked the producers why they made such a significant break from the premise of the DC Comics character on which the show is based. In the comics, Christopher Chance is a bodyguard whose specialty is impersonating (through "quantum makeup" and other vaguely sci-fi devices) the person he's protecting. In the show, Chance (Mark Valley) is simply a great bodyguard; his appearance doesn't change, and he just adopts a cover identity that's close to the actual target.

Producer Jonathan Steinberg said that, while the makeup gimmick worked well on the page and allowed the comics writers to play with concepts of identity, he felt it wouldn't be credible in a live-action version (though that was attempted once before, in a more faithful short-lived early '90s series, with Rick Springfield as Chance). Also, he didn't want to essentially have to cast a different lead actor in every episode.

"It's hard, very hard to fall in love with Indiana Jones when he looks like somebody else every week," Steinberg said. So the approach became: "How do we do this in a way, if there was a guy who did this job, how would he do it? He probably wouldn't do it by putting on a rubber mask. How would he get into your life and be there with you when your action movie was about to start?"

Read more on Chi McBride at the TCA Presentations after the jump.

On August 6 Fox held a panel discussion on Human Target for the Television Critics Association.Broadcasting cable snaged some highlights of the conversation with Executive Producer McG, Writer and Executive Producer Jonathan Steinberg and actors Chi McBride (Winston) Jakie Earle Haley, (Guerrero) and Mark Valley (Christopher Chance)

On keeping up the high-quality look of the pilot:
McG: "There's a guy named Len Goldstein at the back of the room from Warner Bros we need to convince to keep it up.... If it atrophies, viewers will notice and tune out.... Pilots [are actually] not that expensive."
On television becoming a high-quality medium:
McG: "I think there is such a renaissance going on. Such a thought that film is elegant and television is s***. Look at [new Fox Broadcasting Chairman] Peter Rice. [He] comes from most elegant film world.. .[There's] a lot more drek coming out in theaters week to week. With what HBO is doing...there's really no room for inferior storytelling in television. There's so much good television out there. JJ [Abrams] is one of the best things going in film, and he's in television. It's a great time to be involved in television."
Steinberg on working on an action project:
"It's pretty freeing now to do an action [project].... The hope is to be able to pick up a lot of the tropes that for a long time were constrained to film ...There's no real reason not to be able to do that on TV."
On getting the rights to other DC Comics characters and adding then into the series:
Steinberg: Certainly not ruling it out. The mission starting out is to get him [main character Christopher Chance] to stand on his own two feet. [To first try] to meet him and spend some time in that world."
Haley on transitioning from film to television acting:
"I really wanted to work on something that my 10 year-old could watch. In reading the screenplay, I was just sorta floored by it. Seemed like an incredible job to go work with these guys. What excited me about it was getting to develop this character over time. I think it also will be good as an actor to kind of work in this environment against this schedule, so I hope to grow as an actor."
Valley on differences between this role and his previous one in Boston Legal:
"It's a little different. I have had some sidekicks and split my pants and never did that on Boston Legal. I'm anxious to play somebody who wears jeans every once in a while."
McBride on being accused of being the wet blanket again and Pushing Daisies:
"You're going to see a lot more action from Winston [his character on Human Target]. Winston doesn't give the appearance of that, but he's a pretty crazy guy.... A lot of darkness you're going to see come out of this character.
People said to me, 'Everybody loved Pushing Daisies.' I'm like, 'No, they didn't. That's why I'm here.'"

Perhaps a press favorite because of his work on Watchman and his upcoming roll as Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street, Jakie Earle Haley was probed by the critics on questions pertaining to more than just Human Target.
iesb.net posted the Q and A with Haley who will play Guerrero.

Q: Will Guerrero get in on a lot more of the action as the season progresses?

Jackie: I sure hope so. Hopefully, they'll do it in such a way that's different from Mark. This is Mark's show and he's the action hero. But, I think you'll find some things from Winston and Guerrero that will be a surprise.

Q: Does Guerrero exist in the comic books?

Jackie: Guerrero is not in the comic books. He's a new character.

Q: Do you see Guerrero's look as something that could change, over the course of the series?

Jackie: I'm not sure. That's a good question. That's definitely something I'm thinking about.

More of Jackie's interview after the jump. Or check out iesb.net