Comic-Con 2008: 'Chronicles' Panel; Early 'Heroes' Season Three; 'Lost' Hints

By LillyKat
PTR Senior Staff Writer

We continue with our living - vicariously - through - fellow - blogger updates for the happenings of some of our PTR Faves on Saturday at Comic-Con 2008 ...

• Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles

The T:SCC panel consisted of Lena Heady (Sarah Connor), Thomas Dekker (John Connor), Summer Glau (Cameron), Brian Austin Green (Derek Reese), Richard T. Jones (Agent Ellison), Garrett Dillahunt (bad terminator Cromartie), and new cast addition Shirley Manson, who'll be playing some sort of high-tech bad gal in pursuit of the evil Turk computer (we remember her as the "I'm Only Happy When It Rains" lead singer of the band, Garbage, right?)

According to The TV Addict's report and Entertainment Weekly's recap, looks like season two will be a whopper.


*** SPOILER WARNING ***


- Cameron Lives!: Okay, so we knew that was going to be true otherwise there'd be no show. Still, it's good to actually confirm this. I mean, is Summer Glau not the Best.Good.Terminator.Ever?

- John Connor Beefs it Up: According to series creator, Josh Friedman, we're going to see a different John Connor this second go around. Although we here at PTR never quite viewed John as some sort of "mopey, PTSD-afflicted teen" (as EW describes), we do agree he was definitely under the thumb of ol' Sarah. Seems he'll be toughening up a bit as well as getting out from underneath mom's smotheristic approach to living. Not a bad thing, we think. But, we're hoping his "butching up" (as EW says) isn't going to take away some of his best qualities - which, for us, is his compassion and softer side. Part of being the leader of the free world is having a good balance of both. Then again, us girls here at PTR like the sensitive guys. Sue us, okay?

- Death Watch: Apparently, Friedman sprung it on the cast that one of them will die in season two. Doh! Let's hope it won't be some sort of who-shot-JR thing.




• Heroes Screens Third Season Premiere

In feeling as if last season's premiere let the fans down, series creator Tim Kring decided to give the lucky ones crammed into gi-mormous Hall H a surprise: a full screening of the third season premiere.

Like, how cool is that?

According to James Hibberd's The Live Feed, Kring is determined to make season three a strong one. And whilst some shows felt the creative sting of the infamous writer's strike (uh, see Cold Case), and turned in some less-than-stellar eps both before and after the strike, Kring said the break actually served to do the show some good from a creative perspective in addition to helping get fans ramped up for the new season.


*** SPOILER WARNING ***


(courtesy James Hibberd's The Live Feed):

- Kring wrote the episode "The Second Coming"; it's first entry in the show's fall book, which will be called "Villains."

- At least one character without powers will gain a power, and at least one character presumed dead is not.

- Hiro is given a new quest, and the premiere will also introduce a new “speedster" that Kring describes as Hiro’s nemesis.

- Maya has returned, and she has a minor part of the episode.




• Lost Drops Few Hints

Seems as though the Lost producers are taking a page from Where's Waldo? and Damages.

Again, according to James Hibberd's The Live Feed, when the fifth season begins, viewers won't quite know which end it up, or if they are watching a flashback or a flashforward.

Hmmm, sounds a bit Damages-esque to me.

Now, I don't actually watch Lost (that would be PTR Editor in Chief TVFan's domain), but I can say that if the Lost folks do anything near as good as Damages, viewers should be in for a treat.


*** SPOILER WARNING ***


On whether Daniel Faraday and the other Oceanic survivors on the Zodiac raft will survive last season's finale, it seems that Faraday did. But apparently a monsoon is coming, says executive producer Carlton Cuse says. Soooo, the others ... no so much, eh?

Sources: The TV Addict, PopWatch Blog and The Live Feed

Comic-Con 2008: The 'Dexter' Panel

By LillyKat
PTR Senior Staff Writer

So, those of us not lucky enough to be at Comic-Con 2008 are living vicariously through those who are - notably, our fellow bloggers in the television blogosphere.

The always entertaining Ducky over at Ducky Does TV has a fabulous re-cap of the Dexter panel (which, of course, if we were there, we would have made a bee-line for). There is talk of family values being the theme for the third season, with the evolution of Dex as a man being key (as opposed to, say, a monster). This should be interesting, and should provide for lots more of that fabulously clever who - am - I - really internal dialogue Dex is known for.

Read Ducky's full report on the Dexter panel from Comic-Con 2008! (*NOTE: if you don't want to be even remotely spoiled, don't read it).

Also, the good folks over at Showtime have created an exclusive Dexter Comic-Con page with lots of goodies, which includes the new preview for the third season (below).

Mark your calendars: September 28th is the date for the Season 3 premiere!

Comic-Con 2008: We're Not There, But You Might Be

By LillyKat
PTR Senior Staff Writer

We are probably one of the few blogs in the television blogosphere not out in full force at Comic-Con 2008.

And if you ain't got your pass by now, you ain't going.

And we don't, so we're not.

Bummer.

Still, it is worth noting that the hoopla begins Thursday, July 24th and runs through Sunday, July 27th at the San Diego Convention Center. Special preview night is Wednesday (July 23rd).

For those not in the know, what started out as the annual geek fest of all geek fests back in the 1970s (think Star Trek Convention on steroids) has become"the" place for movie studios and TV networks to reveal some of their biggest stars and hits - both present and forthcoming (think Charlize Theron in Aeon Flux or Robert Downey, Jr. and Gwenyth Paltrow in Iron Man ; Lost's J.J. Abrams is a regular fixture; the casts of hits like Heroes and Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles have been featured before we ever have seen them on the small screen).

Needless to say, it's a cool shindig.

For a full list of all the happenings for this year's installment, head on over to Comic-Con International's Official Web Site. It'll tell you who will be where, in what room, on what panel and in what quadrant of the San Diego Convention Center.

And hey, if you're going ... drop us a line and let us know how it is!