Chuck vs. NY ComicCon

Execs Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak were joined by series star Yvonne Strahovski for a panel Sunday, which followed a rather extensive reel of never-before-seen footage from the second half of the current season, loaded with spoilers of what's coming up, including more (inappropriate) romance at the Buy More, some guest appearances by comedy and sci-fi icons and more revelations about Chuck and Ellie's dad.

The room was packed beyond capacity, likely to check out the lovely Aussie Strahovski (who lost geek cred for saying she didn't get the show's pop-culture references,) and the crowd was definitely entertained by the funny trio, though the constant requests and invitations during the Q&A session got a bit annoying (and led to the new catch-phrase "Throw it up!")

Among the topics touched upon were the effect of the economy on Buy More (something we'll see coming up, guest casting (Fedak lives to cast Star Trek actors), Jeff and Lester's band "Jeffster," and the introduction of new spies in the lives of Chuck and company, including a British agent who takes a shining to our favorite lady agent.
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The Diversity of Nerds

Here's my "The More You Know" Post: Say what you will about the people who attend comic conventions, but they have to be the most diverse group of people ever to assemble under one roof. If there's a color of skin, it's here. If there's a gender, it's here. If there's a social class, sexual orientation or age, it's here. It's the feel-good element of this freak show.
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Back for Day Three

Heading back to the city for the last day of NY ComicCon until October of 2010 (Boy that's a long time.) Today is Kids Day, so we'll get the unusual combination of naughty nurses, costumed geeks and impressionable children. We also get a few of the weekend's biggest panels, including Chuck, Dollhouse and Fringe. Should be a good time and hopefully we'll get some good scoops.
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Some Photos from ComicCon

Krod Mandoon (Not an Ethnic Meal Break)

Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire is a "workplace" comedy series coming up on Comedy Central, that is a bit like Robin Hood: Men in Tights, but with a stricter story and less parody. Chris Hardwick of G4 did a great job moderating (he really should be on TV more often,) as two of the execs and two of the stars answered questions, including Sean Maguire, who is making up for the horrible "Meet the Spartans" movie. Unfortunately, the wonderful Matt Lucas (Little Britain,) who plays the key baddie in the show, wasn't in attendance, but Maguire does a pretty good imitation (of co-star Kevin Hart and Marty McFly also,) and is really pretty quick on the draw.

The story about how Lucas became a part of the show was especially a crowd pleaser, as he sort of fell in their laps. "We got Matt Lucas to tape an audition." "Wow!...Who's Matt Lucas?" Seriously, this might have been the most entertaining panel all weekend.
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Summit Brings Us Knowing & The Hurt Locker

The participation was light this time, but the movies certainly piqued my curiosity.

Knowing has been a movie I've been interested in since Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko) was attached, and in seeing the trailer and two scenes selected by director Alex Proyas (who couldn't make it due to post-production,) it probably is better Kelly didn't make this movie. The story of a dad who finds a note in a time capsule that predicted every catastrophe in the 50 years since it was buried, and a few more to come, was probably too "big" an action film for Kelly at this point in his career. That said, I don't know how well it will do, because the topic (global disasters) and the terrifying way they are presented is probably just too harrowing for most people, especially NY'ers. It's just relentless in how destructive the events are and how detailed the events are depicted.

The Hurt Locker is similarly intense and similarly possibly too raw, as it depicts a bomb squad working in what looks like Iraq. The 12 minutes of footage shown nearly made me crap myself. It definitely doesn't look like a feel-good movie. Per one of the stars who did a Q&A, it's not an Iraq movie, but a movie about guys with an interesting job.
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Dead Like Me: The Movie

Four of the cast, including charasmatic Callum Blue and grown-up Sarah Wynter, and two of the producers appeared at ComicCon to promote the soon to be released DVD movie before a packed room. Among the tidbits during this remembrance of the late, beloved series are the return of Dolores and Crystal from the series, but one gets the feeling that Blue could have appeared and just sat there and much of the crowd would have been happy.
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