Fall TV 2012: On-the-Set Photos!

How eager were Amy Poehler and Adam Scott, who play love nerds Leslie and Ben, to get space from each other during the hiatus? Not very. The two shot the indie comedy A.C.O.D., in which Poehler plays Scott's same-age stepmother. ''It was fun to continue working together but with a slightly different dynamic,'' he says. ''Instead of making goo-goo eyes at each other, we were yelling and calling each other terrible names.'' —Dan Snierson

Poehler and Scott will stretch in different ways in the NBC sitcom's fifth season, as new Pawnee councilwoman Leslie visits Ben in D.C., where he's working on a congressional campaign. One episode was even filmed on location, with cameos by senators John McCain, Barbara Boxer, and Olympia Snowe. ''We'd seen McCain score on SNL, but Barbara Boxer and Olympia Snowe were really funny and sweet,'' reports Scott. ''I have little crushes on both of them.'' —Dan Snierson

True to form for his character Chris Traeger, Rob Lowe (center) was nothing less than upbeat during some downtime with co-star Retta. —Dan Snierson

You've never seen Grumpy this grumpy! With the residents of Storybrooke freed from a curse that caused them to forget their fairy-tale identities, they're determined to give an unhappy ending to Evil Queen/Storybrooke mayor Regina Mills (Lana Parrilla, above, behind cast members Jared Gilmore, Josh Dallas, and Raphael Sbarge). ''This is right after all the inhabitants of Storybrooke have woken up and remembered who they are,'' recalls Parrilla of this scene, for which she stepped back into her stern Stepford-mayor wardrobe of Gucci, Zara, and Burberry. ''There's a large mob storming Regina's house. They want to kill her, basically.'' —James Hibberd

Though the other cast members (including, from left, Raphael Sbarge, Josh Dallas, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Jennifer Morrison) have yet to experience audience blowback, being hated is nothing new for Parrilla-as-Regina. After ABC's Once wrapped its first season, Parrilla received a surprising dose of hostility from strangers over her literally heart-crushing character. ''Some kids hide behind their parents,'' says the actress, whose fans call themselves Evil Regals. ''I also got 'You're such an evil bitch — but I love you.''' —James Hibberd

Beth Behrs may have seen plenty of her costars this summer — she and Kat Dennings (above, center) even took an impromptu trip to Paris — but that didn't make her any less excited about reuniting with them on the set of the CBS sitcom. ''It's like when you go back to school,'' says Behrs. ''You've been away all summer, and then you get to see all your friends again.'' —Nuzhat Naoreen

Behrs admits the time away made her feel nervous about slipping back into the stilettos of cupcake impresario Caroline Channing. ''I was like, 'What if I forget her character and how she is?'?'' Behrs recounts. ''But it's like riding a bike. As soon as I'm next to Kat and we read the writers' words, you don't forget.'' —Nuzhat Naoreen

Going back to work was a little harder this year for Jared Padalecki (above, front left), who has to juggle his regular gig with his most important role yet: new dad. But while it's been tough spending long days on set after long nights at home with 5-month-old son Thomas, the actor says the experience has also put eight seasons of demon-fighting on The CW in perspective. ''You remember why you're waking up to work so hard,'' he says. But there's one person he admits puts in even tougher hours — wife and former co-star Genevieve Cortese. ''I cannot stress it enough — and I'm not trying to be the cutesy husband — as hard as I'm working right now, she's working harder.'' —Sandra Gonzalez

But as life continues to change behind the scenes, little has changed in front of the camera. Going into season 8, the show is still delivering the scares, thrills, drama, laughs — and stunt work! — as seasons before. ''There's no mercy for sure,'' jokes Padalecki. ''But then again, I guess that's what got us this far is just Jensen [Ackles, left] and I and the rest of the cast having fun and enjoying the scripts we're given and turning in some fun stuff for the audience, hopefully.'' Safely, of course, which is why on this day, Padalecki prepared for a stunt by putting on his ''bull riding pads'' — low-profile knee-guards similar to the ones used by figure skaters. —Sandra Gonzalez

But what's work without a little play? Padalecki says he and Ackles take pride in keeping the mood on set light — even if it means engaging in a little silliness. ''After playing these manly demon hunters who have been killed and gone to hell and fought ghosts and goblins and zombies, it's fun for Jensen and I to get on these little electrical bikes that go 8 miles per hour and pretend we're, like, Hell's Angels,'' he says laughing. ''There's nothing manly about it.'' To their credit, Padalecki shares they?ve recently upgraded their wheels. ''It's pretty goofy — as I hear myself say it,'' he says. ''But that's sort of what we do on Supernatural. That's what's been so fun in our tenured years — for [locals and guest stars] to come onto the show and be like, 'I've heard so much about working on this show.' It means a lot to us that the reputation of Supernatural is for people to come and have fun, do work they're proud of, and work hard.'' —Sandra Gonzalez

After coming on board early in the fourth season, Misha Collins can hardly be considered a newcomer to the Supernatural gang, but stands as the perfect example of guest star-turned-fan-favorite. (Another? The Winchester patriarch in the picture, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who is seemingly gone but not forgotten.) And this season, look for Castiel to first appear in the second episode, when we will learn more about what happened in Purgatory. ''The first one is going to be a real snoozer. I'm not in it,'' Collins joked with EW earlier this summer. —Sandra Gonzalez