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San Diego Comic-Con 2009

Comic-Con 2009, July 22-26, 2009

San Diego, California

	Frakkin’ Toasters are everywhere! Apparently San Diego is so serious about recycling, they have Cylons guarding the bin to make sure you do your part or else! Seriously though, this was the first thing I saw on Thursday morning when I walked in the convention center.
	Comic-Con has a ring to it I took this shot from the escalators leading up to Ballroom 20 and I liked the symmetry of it so I share it with you all.
	Café Diem is at Comic-Con SyFy took over an entire restaurant in the Gas Lamp District and turned it into Café Diem from the SyFy show “Eureka”. It’s kind of a cool concept and ultra-modern marketing campaign. By the way, I had the Fargo’s Fish and Chips.
	Hanging out with Jack Carter Outside (and inside for that matter) at Café Diem they had cardboard cut-outs of characters from “Eureka”. Here’s my friend Rani getting cozy with Sheriff Jack Carter (the likeness of Colin Ferguson anyway). I heard that during the “Eureka” panel they called Colin who was filming Lake Placid 3 of all things in Bulgaria. He sounded sleepy and said, “I have to be to work in 3 hours” but was pretty amiable about the whole thing. I didn’t get to go to the panel because it conflicted with my pre-determined agenda. Drats!
	The Middleman Cast Reunion Sometimes at Comic-Con you find a gem by showing up early to a panel that you really want to see. I found such a gem in the table read of the new Middleman comic based on the canceled series from ABC Family. I laughed and enjoyed it so much I want to check out the show on DVD. Pictured from left to right, Natalie Morales, Matt Keeslar and Mary Pat Gleason.
	Richard Hatch The actor who brought us Lee “Apollo” Adama in the old and Tom Zarek in the new Battlestar, hosted a panel celebrating 30 years of Battlestar Galactica Thursday afternoon.
	Hatch and McCreary Sounds like the makings of a cop show! Richard Hatch shamelessly promotes Galactica composer Bear McCreary’s concert at the House of Blues Thursday-Saturday night. Rightfully so, too. The concert was amazing! Bear’s music evokes such emotion and only he can make an accordion both sexy and evocative.
	Waiting to get Burned My friend Rani hanging out with me in the line waiting for the “Burn Notice” panel. It was sooooo long we really thought we might not make it in. We did but not close enough for me to get decent photos. Bruce Campbell stole every minute of the panel! He was out of control and so funny he had everyone in stitches.
	Psych! Cast and crew of “Psych” from left to right: Timothy Omundson, Maggie Lawson, James Roday, Dulé Hill and Steve Franks. Dulé tap danced for everyone and later James and Dulé did their Magic Head schtick to locate two lucky audience members whose names would be used for characters on the show! Psych also had the best swag: a Magic Psychic Ball, a t-shirt and a Psych limited edition comic handed out only at the con.
	Darkly Dreaming of Dexter The next season of “Dexter” looks like it’s shaping up to be twelve kinds of awesome. John Lithgow is guest starring as the next big bad guy. Can’t wait to see it! Pictured from left to right are Lithgow, Jennifer Carpenter, Julie Benz and Michael C. Hall.
	A New Universe for Stargate franchise I found another gem waiting to see the Caprica panel: the new Stargate: Universe. I wasn’t planning on watching the show but I certainly am now. The preview they showed looks pretty cool and I figure since I missed the opportunity to watch all the other ‘Gates from the beginning I’m going to check it out. Pictured from left to right, Jamil Walker Smith, Alaina Huffman, and David Blue.
	Ming-Na tells it like it is At the Stargate: Universe panel a guest asked about the strong female characters on the show and Ming-Na chimed in with her opinion. Looking on are the awesome Scotsman Robert Carlyle and Brian J. Smith.
	Caprica’s leaders At the Caprica/Battlestar panel on Friday, (left to right) Ronald D. Moore, and Jane Espenson discuss the genesis of the new Battlestar prequel and the upcoming two-hour event Battlestar Galactica: The Plan directed by Edward James Olmos and written by Jane Espenson. The Plan will premiere on SyFy in October.
	Esai and Eddie Two generations of Adamas were at the Caprica/Battlestar panel. Esai even did his impersonation of Eddie as William Adama. Pictured from left to right, Esai Morales and Edward James Olmos.
	Surprise! One of the great things about the convention is you never know who will show up. Grace Park made an unscheduled visit to the Caprica/Battlestar panel. It’s always a pleasure to see her smiling face.
	Jack Bauer is back! I’m not a “24″ fan (no mail bombing please) but you have to have a healthy respect for a show with a following like “24″. The panel announced that there will be more with Jack, his daughter and grandchild in the next season and that Chloe is returning to CTU with a new boss, played by none other than Katee Sackhoff. All of which means nothing to me but I pass it on anyway. Pictured left to right, Kiefer Sutherland, writer Howard Gordon and Mary Lynn Rajskub.
	Noobs! Katee Sackoff and Freddie Prinze Jr. new cast members on “24″ joined the panel to discuss the role their characters will play at CTU for the next season. Their characters happen to be engaged on top of working together so that should be interesting. It was funny to hear Freddie talk about how he made an off hand comment to his wife that he’d like to be on “24″ someday and that it actually happened. The crowd went wild and he said, “Oh, I forgot she’s big here.” Yeah, Sarah Michelle Gellar has a little more clout than you at this convention, Freddie!
	David videos it in! David Boreanaz couldn’t make it to the “Bones” panel because his wife was about to go into labor but he sent along a funny video as a consolation prize.
	Just the two of us Actress Emily Deschanel and show creator Hart Hanson discussed the next season of Bones. No Seely and Temperance are NOT hooking up. Apparently the next season starts 6 weeks after Booth gets out of the hospital and he’s still a little “confused” about Temperance as Emily put it. Should be interesting to watch!
	Dushku and Whedon? Joss and Eliza switched seats to discuss all things “Dollhouse” at Fridays panel. They also previewed the “lost” 13th unaired episode that will be included on the DVD called Epitaph One. It was awesome! The episode, guest starring fan fave Felicia Day, Reed Diamond and the amazing Adair Tishler, takes us to a post-apocalyptic LA in the year 2019 showing us flashback to the Dollhouse. I don’t want to say more than that because you should buy the DVDs and watch it. Joss did say that the season 2 premiere will include Felicia Day and Adair Tishler so you should watch Epitaph One before the season begins. Dichen Lachman and Fran Kranz also crashed the panel. It was awesome!
	Big Bang Boys! The guys from “The Big Bang Theory”, Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons, were a big hit at TV Guide’s Sci-Fi Hot List panel Friday night. The whole panel congratulated Jim on his Emmy nomination. Khara, this photo is for you!
	Chuck sandwich Zachary Levi from “Chuck” was just as popular as the actors portraying science nerds at the TV Guide panel on Friday, shamelessly promoting the “Chuck” panel for Saturday morning. Zach is surrounded by Scott Wolf from the newly reimagined “V” and Rebecca from the new show “Eastwick” based on the movie The Witches of Eastwick. I’m very excited to see “Eastwick” after the extended trailer they showed at the panel because Canadian actor Paul Gross from “Due South” is playing Daryl Van Horne! I can’t wait to see him on the small screen once again in the Fall.
	This is how my Saturday started When Zach Levi speaks, people listen. The line for the “Chuck” panel was very long on Saturday due to Zach encouraging people to come at the TV Guide panel. That and “Chuck” is (wait for it) AWESOME!
	Jeffster in da house! The “Chuck” panel started with a bang. Jeffster, the musical stylings of Jeff and Lester (otherwise known as , rocked Ballroom 20 with a rendition of “Fat Bottom Girls” that had the crowd roaring. I have to say that “Chuck” was my favorite panel in the show for the Jeffster stunt and the witty banter between the actors and writers. One of my convention buddies had never watched the show but after the panel decided he’d check it out. Good job guys! Pictured from left to right Mark Christopher “Big Mike” Lawrence, Scott “Jeff” Krinsky, Vik “Lester” Sahay and Ryan “Captain Awesome” McPartlin.
	The gang’s all here And good times were had by all. There were so many funny things said in this panel I thought I was in danger of having my face freeze into a permanent smile. Just an example Adam Baldwin invoked shrieks of delight from the Firefly fans in the crowd on more than one occasion, causing Zach to poke fun at Adam about playing Jayne. We ate it up of course. Sarah Lancaster responded to the writers’ comment about tension in Ellie and Awesome’s marriage by saying that perhaps Morgan could comfort Ellie while Awesome was away eliciting gasps from the audience and Ryan saying he wasn’t comfortable with that idea. Everytime an attendee came up with a great idea for the show the writers would write it down. I could go on, but it was just a great panel with lots of funny comments not just from Zach (which is totally expected because as Jayne would say he’s high-larious). “Chuck” will be back most likely as a season replacement. No official date set yet. Pictured from left to right Sarah, Adam, Joshua Gomez, Zach Levi and the quiet as a mouse Yvonne Strahovski.
	Stewie storms Comic-Con Not really. Seth MacFarlane and the gang were there at least. We got to see a clip from the upcoming “Empire Strikes Back” Star Wars homage show and you will not be disappointed. It was so freaking great that words cannot fully express the greatness. It’s always surreal to see Seth in person because he slips so easily into the characters he voices it messes with your head. Pictured from left to write are Alex Borstein, the new show runner (sorry I can’t remember her name because there was no name card-I will take notes next time) and Seth.
	Seth Green The other Seth was at the “Family Guy” panel too discussing Chris Griffin. He also accosted Alex Borstein for a fake (at least I hope it was) groping season under the table joined by Mila Kunis. Comedians do funny and strange things in public, let me tell you. That being said they are some of the greatest comedic minds on television today and I applaud them for their work.
	Mike Henry The “Family Guy” panel was followed by the “The Cleveland Show”. Mike Henry, the genius behind Cleveland Brown and showrunner for the new series due out in the fall explained the what to expect. We also got to see a short preview of the show. It looks just as funny “Family Guy” and if your a “Family Guy” fan you’ll want to check it out.
	New characters from “The Cleveland Show” They also showed the new characters from the show. You can expect the voice talents of Sanaa Lathan, Kevin Michael Richardson and Jamie Kennedy in addition to the usual suspects from “Family Guy”.
	Sci-Fi Vets At the “V” panel on Saturday afternoon, they showed the pilot again and I have to say it gets better every time I see it. They spent a lot of the time slot on the preview so we didn’t get many questions answered. I can tell you this though: do expect there to be rodent eating at some point just like the old series, despite Morena Baccarin’s request that her producers don’t make her put furry creatures in her mouth. Pictured are Morena (”Firely”) and her fellow sci-fi veteran Joel Gretsch from “The 4400″.
	The FBI suits her Elizabeth Mitchell looks bemused at the “V” panel. Her character is shaping up to be similar to Julie from the original series, with Joel’s character as one aspect of Donovan, which Scott Wolf takes on the reporter aspect. I’m interested to see how it’s all going to play out. You should tune in too!
	Josh and Anna give us the scoop At the “Fringe” panel a lot of talk was had regarding the cross-dimension elements of the last part of the first season. I think we’re all still reeling from the season finale! They gave out some cool swag in the form of one sheet of the newspaper that was sitting on Bell’s desk in the alternate universe. Looks like next year is going to be pretty cool. No clips for next year were shown but I’m still going to tune in by DVR. That’s what you get by moving the show opposite “Supernatural”, Fox! Pictured left to right are Josh Jackson (Peter Bishop) and Anna Torv (Olivia Dunham).
	John talks about playing a crazy genius John Noble was asked many questions about playing Walter Bishop and received a compliment from a mental health professional that said his portrayal was spot on. Jasika Nicole discussed the role Astrid plays and the banter between her Walter, including the fact that Walter treats her as a lab tech when in fact Astrid has several degrees! Jasika had a surreal moment when an old college friend came up to the mike to ask a question. Her reaction was so sweet!
	Tru Blood is real! Series creator of the runaway HBO hit “True Blood” Alan Ball talks about the new Tru Blood beverage that’s due out in September. Relax, it’s not really blood just a “blood orange soda”. Check out the web site for more info. Pictured left to right Michelle Forbes (Maryann), Alan and Rutina Wesley. A fan asked if the love triangle between Bill, Sookie and Eric was going to play out like it did in the books. Alan Ball gave a cryptic “Yes”. As a member of the Eric camp I can tell you that I can’t wait to see how they portray it on the big screen! You can see by the number of photos here how much I love this show! Incidentally, the “True Blood” panel had some of the best swag at the convention including a backpack, T-shirt, notebook, a copy of “Living Dead in Dallas” by Charlaine Harris and a 15% off coupon for HBO’s online store. Thanks for rewarding us HBO!
	Lafayette Nelsan Ellis who portrays the popular character Lafayette was a favorite for questions. By the way, Nelsan is an amazing actor because he is absolutely NOTHING like Lafayette in person. Hats off to you, my friend!
	Bill and Sookie Real-life couple Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin charmed the audience with their warm smiles. Anna talked about her least favorite thing about playing Sookie was the constant hair dying because she’s obviously not a natural blond. Other than that she loves playing the character and pursued the part to ensure she’d pass the audition.
	The lady that started it all! Charlaine Harris, writer of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, was so warm and personable. She told a funny story about how when she saw the first episode of “True Blood” she told her husband they were going to have to move because it was so racy! She did say that both she and Alan Ball intended for True Blood for adults so that sort of storytelling should be expected.
	Vampire and shape shifter Deborah Ann Woll discusses the difficulties she has playing Jessica. Some of these difficulties include the fact that the rubber fangs often pop out of your mouth if you speak too fast and that the hard enamel ones are sharp. Stephan chimed in saying the hard fangs leave indents in his lips and Anna stated that the fangs most definitely were sharp! Sam Trammell listens intently in that supercute puppy dog way of his.
	Everybody loves Eric While the other characters are popular on the show, no other actor received more questions from fans about their character than Alexander Skarsgård. I actually felt sorry for Stephen and Anna because Alex overshadowed them with the fans. Who could blame them though? He is quite magnificent! One fan asked why Alex thought Eric was so drawn to Sookie and he responded, “Have you seen her?! Sorry, Stephan but it’s true.” Another fan asked Alex if he’d be willing to wear the pink spandex outfit from “Living Dead in Dallas” to which Alex responded simply by showing the audience his pink and yellow striped socks. I love a man that comes prepared for a crazy question like that. Alan was surprised at the applause from the audience and said he’d have to rethink putting Eric in that outfit after all.
	The elusive show floor I spent so much time in panels that I didn’t make it down to the show floor until after “True Blood”. It was so packed in there I couldn’t believe it! The first thing I saw was the booth to promote the reimagining of the classic 1960s show “The Prisoner” starring Patrick McGoohan. The new version stars Ian McKellen, James Caviezel and Jamie Campbell Bower. I didn’t get to go to the panel but I’m looking forward to seeing the new show when it debuts in November on AMC. They handed out a comic book too which was the only swag I picked up on the show floor.
	Marvel Booth I thought the display for Iron Man was pretty cool at the Marvel Booth so I snapped a photo.
	Exterminate! BBC America had a Dalek from “Doctor Who” in their booth. The inner geek in me had a happy!
	Fringe signing My whole reason for going on the show floor was to visit the Fox booth to pick up a copy of “The Dollhouse” DVDs that were on sale at the show before you could buy them next Tuesday. Unfortunately, they were doing signings for “Fringe” so I couldn’t even get close to the store because of the long line to get a John Hancock from the cast members. I was able to get a photo of Anna Torv diligently signing autographs, however.
	Every young man’s dream Ah, the simple life. Sitting in the captain’s chair from the Starship Enterprise surrounded by green booth babes dressed as aliens from Orion. Paramount went all out to promote their Star Trek reboot!
	Pikachu! And what would the Comic-Con Convention be without a huge inflated Pikachu from Pokéman? Nothing I tell you!
	Smallville Tom Welling, otherwise known as Clark Kent on the CW’s “Smallville”, was greeted warmly by the audience of 5000 screaming fans at his first ever Comic-Con appearance. I’m sure he didn’t know what to expect! They showed a preview of Season 9 that was out of this world. I hope they post it on the CW’s web site so you can all see it. Some revelations made at the con: Lex Luthor is not dead; Jimmy definitely is dead because he didn’t fit the timeline (their words not mine); the Justice League will take the form of the Justice Society organized by Watchtower; and more villians and heroes from the Superman comics will make an appearance. Read the captions below for more!
	Superman and Batman shake hands So, this guy dressed as Batman was in every one of the panels I attended and he always asked a question. Apparently he’s pretty famous at Comic-Con. He asked Tom if he could have Tom’s autographed name card and Tom graciously agreed. What a way to get exposure to all that is Comic-Con!
	The Watchtower is online! Adorable Allison Mack who play Clark’s best friend Chloe on “Smallville” discussed Chloe’s losses in Season 8 and that it will shape Chloe’s behavior in Season 9. In the meantime, Chloe will be busy with the Justice Society of America and helping Clark become the hero he was meant to be: Superman!
	No Mercy Cassidy Freeman, who plays Tess “Mercy” Mercer on “Smallville” discusses the fact that everyone hates Tess and that fans often tell her that she’s so different and bubbly than the character. Her response to that is, “Thanks, but you don’t know me.” At least she has a sense of humor about being a villian!
	The best Lois Lane ever Yes, that’s the fan consensus at the con and I’m inclined to agree. Erica Durance is a brilliant actress and we can expect to see more of Lois this season! Lois will have a new love interest causing all sorts of emotional turmoil for Clark.
	The Green Arrow will be back! Even though Clark and Oliver Queen are fighting, they will still be friends and colleagues against crime. Justin Hartley discussed the journey Oliver will find himself unwillingly taking in Season 9. Apparently, Oliver is going to hit rock bottom but the Justice Society members will pull him out. One of the fans suggested a love interest in Chloe might help both of them through their tough time. Who knows? That would definitely be interesting! Justin is so adorable! I wish I couldn’t gotten a better photo of him but he has some kind of camera mojo that prevent taking a decent shot. Weird.
	Saving the best for last I know he doesn’t look like a bad guy in this photo but Callum Blue from “Dead Like Me” and “The Tudors” is going to be the big baddie this season playing none other than General Zod! He even gave us the treat of hearing him say “kneel before Zod!” I think he’ll be awesome. I’ve long been a fan of him and am happy to see him join the “Smallville” cast.
	“Supernatural” The boys, Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, couldn’t be in San Diego for Comic-Con because of their production schedule. It’s ok though, series creator Eric Kripke said we could blame him for that. In the tradition of last year, they did show 5 minutes of the season 5 premiere titled Sympathy for the Devil. Not the first 5 minutes, however, because they wouldn’t let us see what happens with Lucifer. We have wait until September 10th for that. I did sneak a couple of photos of the preview (bad me!). Here’s a quick rundown: the Winchester brothers enter Chuck’s (the prophet from season 4) house to find it trashed. Sam gets beaned in the head by a toilet plunger wielded by a very freaked out Chuck. They discuss what happened, including the demise of Castiel, and then Chuck senses some thing. Two angels appear accompanying Zachariah (played by Mark Pelligrino). The next few minutes consist of the best string of insults ever to leave the pretty lips of Dean Winchester (several creative ways to call Zachariah a traitor and a douchbag, up to and including those terms). It was awesome!
	Supernatural: the panel We didn’t have the boys but we did have 3 creative geniuses behind the show and Castiel and Bobby Singer to soften the blow. Both were called “series regulars” during the panel which I thought was nice. Pictured left to right: Eric Kripke, actors Misha Collins and Jim Beaver, and writer/producers Sera Gamble and Ben Edlund.
	An angel among us Kripke assured us that Castiel would be back in spite of that fact that he “exploded”. Castiel is definitely a fan favorite. A fan asked if the 5 year plan for the show is going exactly the way it was originally decided in year 1. Kripke said for the most part that was true. Lucifer was always going to rise and the apocalypse was always inevitable but he didn’t envision angels being a part of it all. He said it was a natural transition because they had to have ultimate good to battle the ultimate evil that is Lucifer. Kripke said had to eat crow because at one point he mentioned there would never be angels on the show! Also, he mentioned that Lucifer is not going to be what we expect and that they did try to make him “likable” to the audience. This I have to see!
	You idjits! Jim Beaver is a great entertainer and watching him and Misha Collins verbally spar was wonderful! Kripke assured us that Bobby will have a bigger role this year now that Jim’s done with “Harper’s Island”. Don’t worry Jim I know that I and at least one other person watched your show. Also, Kripke mentioned that other hunters are going to have to come out of retirement because of the apocalypse including Rufus, Ellen and Jo!
	Alien Trespass Just before the BBC panels on Sunday they showed a mockumentary for a sci-fi film called Alien Trespass that’s a spoof on genre films of the 1950s. The film, directed by R.W. Goodwin, stars veteran actors Eric McCormack (“Will & Grace”), Jenni Baird (“The 4400″), Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgment Day) and Dan Lauria (“JAG”). The movie is coming direct to DVD and Blu-Ray on August 11, 2009. It looks really campy and fun. Check it out! Pictured left to right are Eric McCormack and R.W. Goodwin. During the panel discussion R.W. told a story about how Star Trek: The Motion Picture was based on a script he wrote for a new version of the franchise for television. He said he was uncredited for his role in the script but is still proud of the work and he did and how the movie turned out. This is one of those gems of information you get a Comic-Con when you least expect it!
	“Being Human” This British television import is about a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost who decide to live together in the ghost’s flat in Bristol and try to appear normal in society. The premise kind of sounds corny and weird but if the clips they showed us are any indication of what to expect, this show is going to be a hit on this side of the pond too. BBC America has just started to play this genre favorite here in the US. Pictured left to right are Mitchell the vampire, played by Aidan Turner, George the werewolf, Russell Tovey, Annie the ghost, Lenora Crichlow, and creator Toby Whithouse. Russell was so adorable he even asked us to do a “Mexican Wave” like you do a match (that’s British for a crowd wave you’d see at a soccer game).
	Last panel of Comic-Con I think it’s fitting to close the panels at Comic-Con with a discussion of BBC’s groundbreaking “Torchwood: Children of Earth” special. It ran consecutive 5 nights on the BBC and was the highest rated program ever for the network. If you haven’t been watching on BBC America that’s quite alright as you can pick up season 3 on DVD and Blu-Ray Tuesday, July 27, 2009. I already pre-ordered my copy! Pictured left to write are series writer/creator Russell T. Davies, Captain Jack Harkness’ alter ego, John Barrowman, and director Euros Lyn. During the panel the moderator didn’t know what to make of John as he’s quite flamboyant. Hilarity did ensue on more than one occasion! Russell didn’t make any apologies for the hard choices of killing off popular characters on Torchwood stating that it fit the story every time and that Jack, as our hero, needed to suffer. And boy, does he suffer! I applaude Russell for his convictions. I’m looking forward to seeing it after seeing the clip shown at the con and I will be sad just like everyone else.

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