the TV addict » San Diego Comic Con

Comic Con 2009: Inside the Entertainment Weekly/ SyFy Party

theTVaddict — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:49:29 +0000

Chuck Me!

Get ready to be jealous, kids, because I’m about to describe to you the coolest night of my life and, I warn you now, by the time I’m through, you’re gonna want to be me. And by that I mean you’re going to want to put aside whatever hobbies it is you do to while away the hours, start up a television blog of your very own, spend three years devoting every waking moment to it and spend far more than you’ll ever made back for your efforts… all in the hopes of having the kind of night I just had thanks to the site having gotten me the Comic Con equivalent of a Golden Ticket: an invitation to the Entertainment Weekly/SyFy party.

Not to oversell the event or anything, but it was basically the party of the year.

Where else would this TV Addict have the opportunity to geek out over STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION with FRINGE co-creator Roberto Orci, discuss Canada’s inferiority complex over its homegrown entertainment with TRUE BLOOD star Michelle Forbes and mistake boybander-turned-GREEK star Jesse McCartney with FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS star Jeremy Sumpter.

Um, okay, so that last bit may not have been my finest moment… but I digress.

Everywhere I looked, there was someone I worshipped having a conversation with someone I’d at one point considered stalking. Or in the case of Joss Whedon and Jane Espenson, forgoing conversation in order to bust a move on the dance floor as if they were mere mortals hanging at the local disco!

Folks, you would not believe the admissions, confessions and spoilers that come out of the mouths of actors after just a few martinis. (Of course, HPP — Hollywood Party Protocal, for those not in the know — dictates that my lips were sealed the moment I transitioned from red-carpet reporter to party guest! After all, I do want to be invited back next year and not left sitting on the other side of the doors like some Joan Rivers wannabe stuck on the red carpet!)

Want to be even more jealous than you no-doubt already are? Brace yourselves… because if there’s one thing you guys know about me it’s that I love almost nothing more than finangling my way into pics with stars like TRUE BLOOD’s Alexander Skarsgard (Eric). So to keep you entertained while you await my exclusive red-carpet reports in the days to come, enjoy some fun pics from the festivities after the jump!

The TV Addict and CAPRICA showrunner Jane Espenson

The TV Addict with VAMPIRE DIARIES star Paul Wesley and Hero Hayden Panettiere

The TV Addict with fellow Canadian, VAMPIRE DIARIES star Nina Dobev

The TV Addict with Jesse McCartney

The TV Addict with FAMILY GUY’s Seth MacFarlane

The TV Addict with WEEDS’ Hunter Parrish

The TV Addict with CASTLE’s Nathan Fillion

The TV Addict with LOSTermind Damon Lindelof

The TV Addict with TRUE BLOOD’s Sam Trammell and Nelsan Ellis

The TV Addict with TRUE BLOOD’s Sam Trammell and Hoyt Fotenberry

The TV Addict with THE GUILD’s Felicia Day and PopCandy’s Whitney Matheson

The TV Addict with Joss Whedon, aka the nicest man in Hollywood

The TV Addict with ~~TRUE BLOOD~~ DURHAM COUNTY star Michelle Forbes

The TV Addict with a few of Bon Temps’ finest

The TV Addict with ONE TREE HILL’s Torrey DeVitto and VAMPIRE DIARIES star Paul Wesley

The TV Addict with two geniuses, BIG BANG co-creator Bill Prady and LOSTermind Carlton Cuse

A Comic Con Video Round Up

theTVaddict — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 08:18:27 +0000

Thanks to wonder that is YouTube, the best seat in the house for Comic Con 2009 was not front row center in the hallowed hall that is ‘H.’ Rather, it was in front of your computer, thanks to some friendly neighborhood super-fans who were kind enough to share the magic that is the ‘Con’ by uploading videos of some of your favorite panels. Many of which we’ve linked to after the jump.

• BONES
• BURN NOTICE
• CHUCK
• DEXTER
• DOLLHOUSE
• GLEE
• HEROES
• LOST
• MIDDLEMAN
• SMALLVILLE
• SUPERNATURAL
• TRUE BLOOD
• WEEDS

TRAILERS
• CLONE WARS Season two trailer
• DEXTER Season four trailer
• SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND trailer
• STARGATE UNIVERSE trailer
• The TRUE BLOOD Comic Con trailer

FUN STUFF
• The ending LOST Fans never expected
• Jeffster! kicks off the CHUCK Panel
• LOST Season 6 Promos
• New ‘Kate’ backstory
• TRUE BLOOD love triangle ignites!
• LOST cast members resolve the Jake/Kate/Sawyer triangle
• Kristen Bell talks VERONICA MARS

Comic Con Live Blog: CHUCK Panel

theTVaddict — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 18:09:44 +0000

Photo Credit: E! Online

10:15AM: JEFFSTER opens the CHUCK panel by bringing down the house with a unbelievable high energy performance following an intro video in which CHUCK co-creators Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak ‘joked’ that they had no idea what to do next now that Chuck knows Kung-Fu!

10:26AM: The genesis of JEFFSTER was courtesy of writer Allison Adler. Zach asks Vik when the CD is dropping, Vik responds, “I think we would be paid more not to sing again.”

10:27AM: In the first of many fan thank-you’s, Zachary Levi tells the audience that “we’re here because of you guys. When you have the best fans in the world who will go out and eat multiple Subway sandwiches and start grassroots campaigns and say we believe in the cast and crew. You guys are incredible. I love you so much.”

10:28AM: Josh Schwartz adds to Zach’s thank you by thanking moderator Alan Sepinwall, a hero for the show. Maureen Ryan from the Chicago Tribune, Kathy Skerry from GMMR, Michael Ausiello, Daniel Feinberg, Kristen from E!, Televisionary, ChuckTV.net and Wendy Ferrington [possibly spelt completely incorrectly] who was one of those really genius fans who came up with the Subway Footlong campaign.

10:30AM: Sepinwall asks if anyone has been fitted with a Subway uniform yet. Reponds Zach, “I’m hoping!” But in all seriousness, Schwartz says Subway’s involvement in the show has yet to be decided Adding, due to budget cuts, the show can only afford for Adam Baldwin to grunt. To wit Baldwin responds, “My inner monologue when I grunt is the name ‘Joss Whedon.’”

10:32AM: Chris Fedak teases that the story of CHUCK is not akin to Clark Kent, where he goes into the fortress of solitude and comes out as Superman. “We’re doing a story in pieces and if season one and two was how Chuck figured out how about his powers and abilities, it’s going to be really exciting for us to get in their and show how he learns, with Sarah and Casey serving as Sensais.

10:34AM: Adds Josh Schwartz, “Something very emotional and traumatic is going to happen between Chuck and Sarah. But it’s going to be really good.”

10:35AM: On whether or not he’s been ratcheted up the training regime for season three, Zach jokes that he’s been training a lot on Virtual Fighter,”It’s very intense, my thumbs are worn to the bone. The fighting thing is complicated Basically, my powers, these new kind of powers that you see with the “Chuck-Fu” well you can’t know “Chuck-Fu” all the time. It would make Chuck’s handers (Casey and Sarah) obsolete and we can’t have that. So our very talented and wise creators have structured it so that the “Chuck-Fu” and any of the other physical powers that I may have, have a window. A shelf life.

10:36AM: Explains Schwartz, “Chuck’s physical powers don’t necessarily last. The new intercept was designed for Bryce Larkin, super spy. Unfortunately they got into Chuck Bartowski, an emotional guy with a lot of issues.”

10:37AM: Schwartz reveals that now that Awesome knows Chuck’s secret, you will start to see him submerge into the spy world. Adds Captain Awesome himself Ryan McPartline, “Much to Josh Gomez’s chagrin! I’m really excited to be in the spy world, I can’t wait. However they keep story-lines from me. Chris Fedak said on the train down that my performance is much better when I don’t know anything.”

10:39AM: Obligatory commercial break. To tide fans over until whenever the show returns (which, incidentally Schwartz promises might be soon that you might think) ChuckMeOut.com has been created.

10:41AM: Zachary can’t decide on a favorite guest star. “Scott Bakula, Tricia Helfer, and Chevy Chase. That was ridiculous, all I could think about was Spies Like Us which we get to reference on the show all the time. At the end of the day, it’s one more thing that you guys get out of the show.”

10:43AM: Zach adds Jordana Brewster, Dominic Monaghan, the Awesomes… in true comic con fashion, audience members start yelling out favorite guest stars.. Bruce Boxieitner!

10:45AM: Moderator Alan Sepinwall opens things up to the audience. When a fan asks if Chuck will have to pay a price for using his powers, like not being able to eat or walk for thiry minutes, Zach responds, “Art imitating life!” While Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz hilariously start to take ‘notes,’ with Schwartz adding, “keep it coming.”

10:45AM: An adorable girl asks Zach who his best friend in the cast is. Audience offers up the obligatory “Ahhhhhh,” Zach says that the questioner should bottle her adorableness and says that he kind of feels like he has a different connection with everyone in the cast. “But probably Josh and I from day one, he plays my best friend on TV and we’re great friends in real life.”

10:46AM: After noticing a plethora of ‘beards’ on the panel, a fan asks if we’ll be seeing them on the cast next season. To wit Chris Fedak responds, “Yes.”

10:47AM: Only at Comic Con does an audience yell out “Klingon!” after a fan asks if Chuck’s dad possibly programmed him with any other languages.

10:48AM: A young boy named Orion (No really!) asks if there are ever going to be any action figures or video games in Chuck’s future. Says Adam Baldwin “I need another one?” as the FIREFLY friendly audience goes nuts as Zach mocks Baldwin, “Oh I’m on FIREFLY…. I hope we get action figures for no other reason so that I can have one and throw it in his [Adam Baldwin's] face…. oh look at that Jayne!”

10:49AM: When asked which superhero he would compare Chuck to, Zach says Peter Parker, explaining, “Chuck gets bit whether he likes it or not. Not by a spider, but by an email… which is on the world wide web…” And in terms of who Zach would like to play in real-life, “Deadpool but apparently Ryan Renoylds gets all the jobs.”

10:53AM: Audience member yells out, “Yvonne, you’re Hot.” To which Baldwin adds, “From the Duh Files.”

10:54AM: Another round of unexpected audience participation comes in the form of fan suggestions for possible season three guest stars, which include Adam Brody and Bruce Campbell.

10:54AM: Fedak assured the fans that the Buy More will still be apart of the show. “No matter how much action we put on, the show is never going to lose its sense of humor.”

Comic Con: Friday Round Up

theTVaddict — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 17:11:50 +0000

Since theTVaddict.com is essentially an operation of one, there was quite a lot that we didn’t get to at Comic Con. Which is why we thought we’d share some of the TV related tidbits we missed. Just a few.

• Kiefer Sutherland discusses the possible end of 24 [HitFix]

• The nerds of THE BIG BANG THEORY commune with the nerds of Comic Con [EW]

• Dominic Monaghan joins FLASH FORWARD [E! Online]

• Ron Moore talks BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and CAPRICA [MoRyan]

• Check out a first look at SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND [YouTube]

• EUREKA gets picked up for season 4 [Zap2It]

• Adrianne Palicki isn’t sure she’ll return to FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS [Ausiello]

Say What? Our Comic Con Quotes of the Day!

theTVaddict — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 16:52:16 +0000

“OMG! You killed Penny you bastard!” — exclaimed a not-so-understanding DR. HORRIBLE fan to Joss Whedon during his Comic Con Q&A.

“I forgot, she’s big here.” — said Freddie Prinze Jr who was caught off guard when the audience interrupted in applause during the 24 panel after he mentioned ‘his wife’ (Who just so happens to be Comic Con icon Sarah Michelle Gellar)

“Don’t be alarmed, we do blow sh*t up,” — assured Kiefer Sutherland to an audience of 24 fans following a fairly subdued sneak peak unveiling a fairly subdued preview of 24 Season 8.

“This is fantastic but at some point I need a gun because i’m starting to feel really naked. Preferably two.” — said 24’s newest CTU member Katee Sakehoff

“I’ve gotten more girls playing this role. I didn’t see that coming.” — revealed Johnny Galecki, who plays lovable loser Leonard on THE BIG BANG THEORY.

“Muffins and cookies,” — was BSG/CAPRICA executive producer David Eick’s less than serious answer [or so we hope] when asked what unique traits a female showrunner such as Jane Espensen brings to the writer’s room.

“. I do think that as long as we don’t send anyone to Feudal Japan, we’re pretty much okay.” — said Joss Whedon when asked how DOLLHOUSE intends to deal with time paradoxes introduced in episode 13.

Comic Con Recap: Joss Whedon Talks DOLLHOUSE, DR. HORRIBLE and Why Corporations and Governments are Trying to Control Your Mind!

theTVaddict — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 03:03:36 +0000

Move over Kevin Smith, there’s a new man who we’d like to see take his ridiculously entertaining schtick of self-depracation and hilarity on the road. His name: Joss Whedon. As you’ll quickly see from our recap of his Q&A direct from San Diego Comic Con 2009.

On the future of Victor
Joss Whedon: Spoiler Alert! Victor might get better, quickly.

On where the idea came to cast the hilarious Alan Tyduk as a villain?
I’ve met him. He’s an extraordinarily versatile actor and has actually got a fighting streak in him that you won’t see in Wash or in 28 days… no, which is the one without Sandra Bullock?

One what he’s reading for inspiration.
Wired Magazine is pretty much all I read and have time for. I’m reading Julie & Julia but haven’t come up with a lot for the show. We’ll save Eliza saying “bon appetite!” for sweeps.

On other writers in the writer’s room coming up with ideas that make you think…
I haven’t had a thought in years! The staff are really there as stenographers! This is without a doubt the best first year staff I’ve ever worked with. A room full of brains… floating brains in jars. I really feel like this, more than any other show is a real roundtable. Everyone has made a contribution that I wish I thought of and was grateful not to have to.

On his creative community
Sometimes the people you work with actually help inspire. I can’t stress this enough. The way I talk about the writer’s room, being a round table, being a circle, this is how my creative life exists — because of a community. Everything I see from them informs everything I do. The show was created because I knew Eliza [Dusku] can be sophisticated, funny, vulnerable, blind. All these things she’s not going to get to play unless I get to play with her. At the same time, it was Felicia [Day] singing in her little Christmas episode of THE GUILD that made me want her to play penny in DR. HORRIBLE and the idea that had me use her in “Epitaph One” was when Sarah Fain [DOLLHOUSE Executive Producer] brought her up after considering her for a role in WOMEN’S MURDER CLUB. I was so embarrassed we hadn’t thought of it.

On his penchant for hiring familiar faces
This year, all bets are off. We had Eliza and Amy [Acker] so last year we didn’t want to seem like we were playing favorites. This year, I don’t care anymore. I do believe that we’ll be seeing a few episodes involving a young ingenue names Alexis Denisof and if the stars align we might also see a little [Summer] Glau.

On his penchant for killing of beloved characters
As a storyteller… I hate people… I want them to suffer and die! I kill people for (1) either the story or (2) because contractually I have to. I try to have as much integrity as a storyteller that I can but when somebody is going to disappear sometimes you have to think up something so that you cry when they do.

On the possibility of a second mole inside the dollhouse
No one can be trusted. Actually, there is one person who can be trusted, but I’m going to kill them.

On the similarities between musicals and sci fi
Sci Fi and musicals have a weird cross section. They’re both a step removed from reality, a little bit bigger than life and do tend to lend themselves to eachother unlike say musicals and I don’t know.. cops shows. Anytime you get some piece of fandom to another experience it’s the best feeling. One of the best things about the BUFFY comic is that a lot of people who weren’t reading comics started because of BUFFY. It was a gateway comic.

On when we’ll see another musical (read: DR. HORRIBLE 2)
Well all of the writer’s of DR. HORRIBLE are here today. Sometimes we get together and talk about just that thing. I can’t give you a date or any info at all because I’m me. But it’s very much on our minds. We love it far too much to let it go.

On his creative process
Apart from the stealing from friends, writers, artists and William Shakespeare. For a guy who notices very little I see everything. It all filters in. I have these weird genre filters in me and everything comes at me and I can’t stop. I can’t stop thinking of things that I want to say and different ways to say them. They don’t always work, are often re-written and not produced, but they keep coming and thank God they do. I don’t think of it as a creative process, it’s like blinking. It’s just the way I am. I’m not very good with actual people because I’m usually too busy with the little avatar world I live in.

On whether the audience will buy the show’s change in direction
I guess there are some shows like LOST that has done some stuff. I’ve never seen it. I’m busy. Okay fine, I’ll watch TV instead of making it for you. I’m such a prick. I do think that as long as we don’t send anyone to Feudal Japan, we’re pretty much okay.

On the similarities between FIREFLY and DOLLHOUSE
Told you, no new thoughts! Big evil corporations are my cup of tea in the morning. Yes, there are similarities, I’m not going to lie. But it’s not intentional or a shout out, but yes, this is very awkward.

On his fascination with large corporations and government messing with people’s minds
Have you been in America? I like to consider myself the great documentary film maker of our time. The entire structure is designed to mess with your minds, sell you things, entertain you, keep you in line, make you think you need things they want you to need, keep them in power, share none of it. But there are lights in the darkness, the art we get to create because the powerful patrons let us. But sometimes it’s like running the daycare on the death star. There is power and manipulation controlling almost all of our every thought, that is why I love this show so much.

Today’s TV Addict Top 5: Things We Learned at the CAPRICA/ BATTLESTAR GALACTICA Panel

theTVaddict — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 23:23:11 +0000

Ronald D. Moore, not a fan of Emmy Voters
“It is a frakkin’ crime that the cast was never recognized for their performances. It is criminal.” said a visibly perturbed Moore who went on a surprising albeit fully deserved anti-Emmy tirade after yet another year of egregious Emmy snubs. “We would not be talking about CAPRICA on this panel today if it were not for the ensemble of actors that we put together on BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.”

SyFy: Imagine ~~Greater~~ Less Boobies
One thing that won’t be coming with CAPRICA when it makes the jump from DVD to basic cable in January is the gratuitous nudity. That said, Moore does promise that when SyFy does rebroadcast the premiere, they’re planning to insert some new never-before seen goodies of presumably the non-nude variety. Joked fellow producer David Eick, “FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS’ Jeffrey Reimer, who directed the pilot is known in the business for the speed in which he works. Yet somehow, on the days when he had to shoot the lesbian topless dancers… everybody’s standing around looking at their watch with Reimer saying, ‘Let me try and get one more shot!’”

THE PLAN = Awesome
After you watch the Edward James Olmos directed, Jane Espensen penned BATTLESTAR GALACTICA movie THE PLAN — which tells the story of BSG from the Cylon perspective — you will want to go back and watch the entire series over again. “My hat is off Ron Moore, David Eick and Jane Espensen for creating a piece of artistic work that actually breathes new life into the series,” revealed Olmos. Adding, ” I can guarantee you this will not be the last BATTLESTAR GALACTICA movie, It’s gonna be so successful it will rock their [NBC Universal, who produces the series] pants off.”

Edward James Olmos has a plan of his very own
One that we’ve already titled, purchased the domain for and trademarked “Admiral Adama: After the Finale.” Joked the actor, “When you next see Adama, he’s living in a rusty log cabin and there is a knock on his door. It’s his old friend Col. Tigh saying, ‘We have a problem.’ And the journey begins.”

It’s CAPRICA, Not a daytime soap
In fact, if you must compare CAPRICA to something, why not Buffy? At least according to BUFFY vet Jane Espensen who gave a shout out to her BUFFY peeps in her why-you-should-give-CAPRICA-a-chance sales pitch, “There’s a tiny essence of Buffy in CAPRICA. We’ve got ourselves an angry teenager and a robot. I think BUFFY fans will find something there.”

Another Look at the Stars of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES

theTVaddict — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:00:55 +0000

Edward and Jacob who? Or at least that’s what the CW hopes you’ll be asking after getting a closer look at the stars of their new fall series THE VAMPIRE DIARIES: (Left to Right) Paul Wesley as Stefan, Nina Dobrev as Elena and Ian Somerhalder as Damon.

Photo Credit: Andrew Eccles / The CW © 2009 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

First Look: STARGATE UNIVERSE Trailer

theTVaddict — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:49:54 +0000

Direct from Comic Con comes a gritty, dark and exciting new look at STARGATE UNIVERSE. Or with apologies to CAPRICA fans, what SyFy is definitely hoping is BATTLESTAR GALACTICA Version 2.0.

Overheard, Only at Comic Con

theTVaddict — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:23:59 +0000

Guy #1: “Is this seat taken?”
Guy #2: “Yeah, for the other half of my butt.”