Question: How many years do you think this TV series can continue, given the structure of the book?

Neal Baer: Well, I'm glad you brought up the book, because Stephen King is writing the first episode so he's certifying that he is very much involved in this show and that the book is there for those who want to read it -- if they haven't at this point. But we are way past the book, because the book is really only about the first week of UNDER THE DOME and we are already two weeks in. This season will go for two more weeks, so we really go day-by-day under the dome. I guess if we lasted 15 years, that would really only be a year under the dome and I think that's certainly possible to keep going because we have so many stories to tell.

Neal Baer (continued): We have new characters as well who shake things up. We've got Eddie Cahill coming on as San Verdreaux, Big Jim's brother-in-law, who has been a recluse for ten years after his sister died and was an alcoholic. We have Karla Crome coming on as Rebecca Pine, who is a school teacher, so we are really getting into the science versus faith elements this season. And we really pursue that because Rebecca represents scientific explanations for what's going on versus Rachelle Lefevre's character, Julia, who is really much more about faith and Big Jim is kind of in the middle trying to figure it out. We have Grace Victoria Cox who is the young woman Julia just pulled out of the water. She is a pivotal character whose connection -- particularly why she came out of the water, what she was doing there -- will be revealed and we have Sherry Stringfield, my dear friend I worked with on ER. And we have an ER reunion this year, because Eric LaSalle will be directing Sherry in episode ten this year. So we are excited about that. So Stephen writing the episode is really sending us off into a place that he feels really proud of and really loves and it's his kind of ideas of how to go beyond the book. And so that's really special for us to have Stephen launch us this season -- and what's better than having kitchen appliances and barbecues come to life? That's so Stephen King.

Dean Norris: We have Dwight Yoakam, by the way.

Neal Baer: Yes, I love his first scene with Dean where he's a town barber and he has a blade that he is shaving Big Jim with and like, whoa, he could just go a little too far.

Question: So what new properties does the Dome have?

Neal Baer: It's certainly magnetic. We just love the butterfly metaphor. So this is a season really almost about kind of ecological disaster impending and so that magnetism has caused many things to happen. So you will be seeing in the early episodes our characters, particularly Big Jim, confronting almost wouldn't you say, Dean, biblical?

Dean Norris: In fact, biblical.

Neal Baer: Biblical problems of pestilence and bloody rain and things coming, because I guess our characters haven't been the stewards that maybe they should be of protecting the land and protecting each other. So they have a lot to learn this year, and I guess the Dome is teaching them. That's what Rachelle's character, Julia, keeps talking about that we have to understand the message that the Dome is trying to give us. What is it trying to teach us?

Question: Dean, is your character going to lighten up this year? Your character has been very nasty.

Dean Norris: Nasty?

Question: Yes, you've been very nasty, even to your son.

Dean Norris: Well, he deserves it.

Question: Are there any plans for your character to start liking people?

Dean Norris: Well, actually, I think so. I think part of the transformation -- the kind of theme we are talking about this year -- includes some redemption for Big Jim. It's actually in the first episode he has kind of a come-to-God or a come-to-Dome moment where he believes that maybe his purpose in life shouldn't be to be so nasty. That's kind of a story arc that continues throughout the season -- whether he has a higher purpose, a greater purpose other than just killing people and being mean to his son. So I think we explore that and I think that's one of the themes of the season, exactly what you touch on right there.

Question: Neal, what sorts of things happened as a result of the popularity of the show? Did you hire more writers or build more sets?

Neal Baer: Well, we always are story-driven, so we did create a new set. You know, we burned the radio station -- well, I didn't burn it down, he did [pointing at Dean Norris]. He burned the radio station down last year, so we have a new set, which is the high school where Rebecca Pine is. And we have some really, really interesting things happening in that school. What I love about Stephen King's way of seeing the world is that it's the ordinary that becomes extraordinary. So when the household appliances -- the barbecue is only the beginning in that episode -- and those things come to life and the things we trust become fearful, I love that. I also love that the school, which is a place of learning, is a place that holds terrible, terrible things to come that will involve both Dean and Rachelle's characters.

Neal Baer (continued): We are doing some really interesting transmedia work this year which we haven't done before. So for the first time we are really kind of embracing how can we use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. So maybe -- I can't say for sure that we are, but we have a character played by Max Ehrich who just was nominated for an Emmy for THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, a young actor who is going to come on to pay Hunter. And we are introducing him in episode three but only digitally as you will see because, there is a break in the Dome that comes through where internet messages can get through.

Dean Norris: Thank goodness.

Neal Baer: So in episode three Norrie and Joe start to get messages from this young man and we will actually meet him in episode eight. So we think we might be one of the first shows to have a digital character who is really real. And we really want to reach out to particularly our young audience and embrace transmedia and have this world. So we will be talking a lot more about and revealing some things about that. So I think it's just like a pressing forward to great new sets but always to keep it about our characters struggling to get out of the Dome. And I think I also mention that because we want it to be surprising. Maybe someone might possibly get out and maybe someone might possibly get in this year as well.

Question: You've said that anything is possible in the Dome. Do you have a set of rules of what you think the Dome can or can't do?

Dean Norris: The Dome is a harsh master. I think we are discovering what the Dome can and can't do. I think that's part of the season arc. I think we are all struggling to find out what it means, what its powers are, whether it's good or whether it's bad, whose side it's on. So all of those are questions that we attempt to answer and that we struggle with throughout the season.

Rachelle Lefevre: I think it's like a two-part approach. Neal and the writers have their set of boundaries and what they decide in terms of what the Dome will be capable of, what it will do and what it won't do. Then I feel like I look at us and our cast as kind of the keepers of the characters. So they will obviously write for us, but then I do feel like we have a voice in being able to contribute who these characters are in the sense of how much they will believe, what will they credit the Dome with having done? Some characters will go, "That was the Dome that did that." Some characters will refuse to believe that; some characters will look for other explanations. So I think you have sort of two rules working in tandem which is, one, what is the Dome actually doing which only the Dome kind of knows for sure.

Dean Norris: I know. The Domes don't.

Rachelle Lefevre: And you. You, the chosen one. And what we'll attribute to it independently as characters.

Neal Baer: And I also mentioned about Karla Crome's character, Rebecca Pine. We're really excited because she's seeing the pestilence that's coming or the rain that is coming, and she has scientific explanations. And as I said, Rachelle's character, Julia, isn't so sure about that. She thinks it is more Dome-related, and Rebecca thinks it is because of the way they have acted Under The Dome that is causing the problems because they are burning too much trash, et cetera. So we have this real tension between science and faith this year, and Big Jim is caught in the middle, which we think is really cool. So we explore that over all the episodes. The rules are actually the same as last year. We actually posted them, I think, on Twitter and on the CBS website. It is permeable to air and water but there is an episode six where Big Jim has to deal with raging dust storms now that may clog the Dome. So we have all kinds of things that are happening because, as I said, we may not have treated each other well enough to keep things going and I think the Dome, for the most part, is benevolent but it wants certain things. And as we said last year in the last episode, our characters have free will. And because they are human beings, that's often not a good thing.

Question: Dean and Rachelle, can you talk briefly about where your characters were emotionally as we left them off and their arcs going forward?

Rachelle Lefevre: Neal has mentioned that my character sort of takes a faith look at things this season, and I think that's because last season she discovered for herself what she was willing to sacrifice for what she sees as the larger purpose or the greater good. So the Julia that you see at the end of the season obviously makes the choice to be extremely altruistic and basically utilitarian and goes and sacrifices one for the good of many. And that's the choice she makes, to let Barbie go to the gallows to keep the eggs safe and what she thinks will keep Chester's Mill and the world safe. And you meet her at the beginning of this season in a new place, because once you realize you are willing to make those choices and once you see what you are willing to sacrifice, I think that changes you. So she has a different approach this season. Although she isn't looking to be a leader, necessarily, and certainly isn't creating power the way Big Jim is, she finds a confidence and an emotional strength to be able to go forward and see if maybe I have something to offer this town in terms of maybe I really am prepared to make the hard choices. Somebody has to encourage us to make the hard choices and I don't think it's going to be you.

Dean Norris: I think he's already made the hard choice. I think Big Jim is kind of what I referred to earlier. He thinks that he knows what's best for the town and he thinks he's inspired by the Dome to do what he does. And what happens in the first episode is that he comes to an awakening and he reevaluates his position and his kind of personal trajectory and decides that maybe a different kind of Big Jim is required to survive Under The Dome. I think that's something that he explores. Whether that turns out to be truthful or not, that's what we'll find out as the season goes on, but it's certainly where he goes to. He decides, hey, maybe we need a different approach to this -- and maybe that's successful, maybe it's not. Depending on that, we will see whether he continues that way or whether he goes back to his old ways.

Question: Neal, can you talk a little bit about working with Stephen King? And is this actually the first Stephen King show to go more than one season?

Neal Baer: I can't answer that question. I'm not sure. Dean knows when we get our ratings -- it's like Dean is the one. I thought I was obsessed with the numbers in Germany but Dean knows the numbers in Germany. It's fantastic.

I just got an e-mail from him [Stephen King] today and he's so supportive. He actually has a cameo in the first episode. He's almost impish, you know, in real life and very fun to be with. He was in North Carolina doing a lot of press when we first started shooting in March. He has great ideas.

Neal Baer (continued): As I said, I just love the fact that refrigerators and stoves become our enemy. I think he has this wonderment quality as well that just is infectious -- and the writers love that he's involved. He reads every script, as does Stephen Spielberg too. So they read every script. They talk to me about it. So it's really an ideal way to work with. When you think of the name Stephen and then you think of or ask yourself who are the two cultural Stephen icons you will think of Stephen King and Stephen Spielberg. And to have them on the show is just something beyond a dream. So it's really amazing to work with Stephen King and have the support of someone who -- he's there for the show and he wants it to be the best show it can be..

Dean Norris: Stephen squared. Can I say something about Stephen King? The first episode is so Stephen Kingian and part of it is that almost in the midst of the kind of most horrifying and tragic elements, there are these little lines that are almost kind of humorous, you know. It was so cool to see that, because it's in his books and it was so cool to kind of see it in the script. In the first episode there are moments where Big Jim maybe sees ghosts -- or they may be ghosts or they may be whatever they are. And while it's a kind of a terrifying or horrifying situation, it's also funny to see Big Jim have to squirm with these kind of ghosts of Christmas past and the future and have to deal with them. And it's such a Stephen King-ian thing and it's all present there in the first episode that he wrote.

Rachelle Lefevre: Obviously, we are such fans of his and it is a really big deal to be on a show that's not just based on something he created, but that he stayed with us and stayed an influence. My favorite thing is for anyone who is a fan or even just familiar with his work that obviously whatever horrific elements he has, the purpose is always some larger question, some larger examining of who we are and how we behave and what we are capable of. And those larger questions, I think are really important in terms of keeping the show relevant, keeping the show exciting for viewers, leaving them something to think about and talk about until the next week. And I think that having him still on board with us and having him be a contributing voice reminds us not to get too caught up and to disappear into just these characters and just this story, but to always make sure that we are also providing commentary on human nature and commentary on, like Neal said, maybe environmental resource questions. There is always some kind of larger theme, which I say all the time as a nerd. I just really like the idea that there is this overarching theme that people can grab onto with each episode and kind of talk about what we are examining each week.

Question: Is there anything in the show in the writing and in the marketing that you do differently because it's a summer show?

Dean Norris: Show a lot of bikinis and suntan lotion. Big Jim in a Speedo.

Neal Baer: Okay, yes. We will do that for sure.

No, I think it's always about characters. So winter, spring, summer or fall, shows do well that captivate. Why do people like the show? Well, I think they like it because of Dean and Rachelle and the way they play their characters. They are captivating.

Neal Baer (continued): There was an earlier question to Dean, "Why are you [your charracter] such a son of a bitch?" Well, that means that we are captivated by that. We want to know who he is and what he's about. So it has some big elements, some popcorn elements, as you saw with poor Linda getting smooshed by the SUV. Wow, that's kind of like summer movie-ish. We have amazing special effects -- more this year than last year. And I think there are really cool things you will see with butterflies that you never would believe. These beautiful creatures. I mean we are having so much fun with our effects. So I think maybe that's partly different for the summer, that we want to have it be a show that you can come to and really go on a wild ride. And yet it is still, as I said, about falling in love with the characters.

Question: In the first season, everybody was hoarding everything. So are we going to deal with the practical aspects this season of how they are getting food and what happens when they run out of toilet paper?

Neal Baer: I'm going to let Dean answer that question because that's about his character.

Dean Norris: Well, yeah, that's one of the things that Big Jim is trying to deal with is is there enough food for everybody, is there enough water for everybody. What resources are left for us to survive under the Dome. That's definitely one of the themes that we deal with and Big Jim, in particular, is looking to try to answer or come up with a solution for. So, yeah, that's a big part of what we deal with this season.

Neal Baer: That's a huge part and it really puts Rachelle and Dean's characters at huge odds in episode three and four this year...

Dean Norris: ...about how to deal with varying views of how to deal with that. I'd say give it all to Big Jim and she's like give it to everybody else.