This recap of Comic-Con will come in several parts. There is just too much to share and my thoughts are endless. I already wrote a review of our first day, so this post will cover the events of the second day. Also note that you can probably find everything I talk about on YouTube or elsewhere on this sprawling interweb. I'll include picture and video highlights as well. So....let's go!
FRIDAY (Day 2)
The first day was all movies, today's panels were all television. These were held in smaller rooms but required us to be at the convention center just as early as we were the first day. This meant another 7:30 a.m. arrival for the first panel that started at 10:15. The pleasant surprise to all of this is that they knew how to handle the lines. We were lined up in a comfortable space outside, under tents. If you bring an iPod or book or company, this makes the wait seem not nearly as long. We were allowed into the room at 9:45 and my dad and I grabbed a spot on an aisle just 10 rows back from the stage.
"HAWAII FIVE-O"
The first panel of the day was held by CBS to feature their upcoming reboot of the classic cop show, "Hawaii Five-0." My parents were big fans of the original show starring Jack Lord. So, my dad was looking forward to this panel. Also, it stars Daniel Dae-Kim, who played Jin on "LOST", and we were both excited about that. The show is also being run and produced by Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci. These guys come from J.J. Abrams camp and wrote/produced such things as "Star Trek", "LOST" and next summer's "Cowboys and Aliens."
The show started on time and all those mentioned above were there, as well as the director of the pilot, Len Wiseman ("Underworld") and the female lead, Grace Park ("Battlestar Galactica"). There was a lot of talk about how great filming in Hawaii is and how they used the original musicians to play the theme song again. There was not much talk about what they are doing different from the original series or what they are keeping the same. They also didn't seem to discuss why they are even doing this remake. All the Q & A was focused on "LOST" and "Battlestar Galactica." They whole point of this panel's presence seemed to say, "Hey look! We are doing this show again that was popular in the '70's and there is a guy from LOST in it!."
They did show some footage, most of which was just your standard CBS cop show. The chemistry between the leads seemed pretty strong. Scott Caan specifically seems to bring a nice lightness to the show. It should be noted though that what we saw of Grace Park was especially weak. That is probably what my dad took from the panel more than anything else. We both agreed though that we would probably give it a shot when it premieres this fall but we aren't overly excited about it or anything.
"THE WALKING DEAD"
The next panel was one that I was extremely excited to see. "The Walking Dead" is a TV show premiering in October on AMC. It is based on a series of graphic novels by the same name and is about a small group of people in Georgia trying to survive a post-apocolyptic world that is overrun by zombies. That's right...ZOMBIES!!! If that isn't reason enough to be excited, there are plenty more. The network producing the show is the same that houses current great shows, "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad." Also, Frank Darabont (director of "The Shawshank Redemption") is running the show and the zombie make-up is being done by the same guy that did the great George Romero films.
Darabont was there, along with the cast (no big names), the writer of the graphic novels and the head of make-up/special effects. You could tell how excited they all were about the show and were touched to see all the people there just as excited and being completely supportive and trusting. They showed some footage from the show, which was in the form of an extended trailer, and it looks so stinkin' cool! My dad, who doesn't get the zombie/sci-fi stuff at all, thought it looked great and is excited himself about it. The biggest thing I pulled from it was my amazement that this show is going to be on basic cable television. From the look of the footage, they don't seem to be sacrificing anything from the world developed in the books, but in order to air on cable, some stuff would have to change. I am curious to see what they do.
I am reading the books right now and I can tell you that I see why people love it so much. The character and story development is so intelligent and thought out, it just happens to be set in the world of the graphic novel. The author, who was there on the panel, appeared to be a younger guy, no older than 35 and they have made him a huge part of the show (he wrote an episode actually, which is never done by the author of source material). I just found his story of creating this work and how it has taken off to be inspiring.
The first season will be six episodes and premieres on AMC in October. Keep on lookout for it. If anything, I can promise that it will entertain you. Plus...its ZOMBIES!
"YO GABBA GABBA"
The last panel we attended was for the children's show, "Yo Gabba Gabba." This one was purely for me. I am an unabashed fan of the show and watch it all the time...alone. That's right; I'm 27, single and without children and one of my favorite shows on television is a show targeted for preschoolers. I was not embarrassed about this on our way to panel but I was definitely not embarrassed after attending. There are many like me out there and it was nice to share in it together.
My dad really didn't want to go to this panel but he said he wanted to know what the big deal was, so he tagged along. The creative team behind the show was doing two panels that weekend. One on Sunday, specifically for the kids with the characters and music and everything. The one we attended was meant to be more behind the scenes and stories of how it began. Parents didn't really understand that and the (very) small room was packed with little kids who were quickly disappointed to see DJ Lance Rock not in his orange track suit.
The panel was pretty short because of time restrictions and the growing volume of crying babies. It was very difficult to hear the panelists. Everyone involved in the show was clearly under 35 and looked straight out of the side tents at a music festival like Coachella or Austin City Limits. These were "my" people and I found it to be another inspiration. They started the show by shooting a pilot in their garage and handing out DVDs to anyone that would take it. They also posted material online and it quickly just took off and they haven't looked back.
Some specially made videos were shown that showed footage of their live performances and videos from the numerous celebrities that rave about the show. They did do an impromptu dance contest, for the kids, but even that just led to horrified, bawling children. It was more entertaining that annoying though! By the end of the panel, my dad kind of understood the coolness and creativity of the show. He stopped making fun of me for loving but still said he was too old for it. He just doesn't get that you are never too old for "Yo Gabba Gabba"!
"SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD"
The reason we only went to three panels this day was because we wanted to see an advance screening of Edgar Wright's "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World" starring Michael Cera and based on a series of comic books. Wright's first two feature films are two of my all-time favorites, "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz." This would be the first film he would do without the stars of the other movies, the hilarious Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. I have also read the books and besides "Inception," this was the most anticipated movie of the year for me.
We decided to walk by the theater 3 hours early, just to see if the line had started yet, and we were glad we did. The screening was at 6:30 and at 3:30, there were already 500 people there. So, we got in line and my dad went to grab food. The next 2 hours were the worst of our time at Comic-Con but I will talk about that more in a future post.
The Balboa Theatre holds 1,300 people and every seat was full by 6:00. We were given free popcorn and drinks when we arrived. Kid Koala provided the pre-show entertainment and the buzz was palpable. At 6:30, Edgar Wright came out to welcome everyone, along with most of the cast who said they were staying to watch the film with us. The screening itself was a great experience. There was cheering at everything that resembled the source material and at the first appearance of every character. It was easily one of the top 3 movie-watching experiences of my life.
I will be reviewing the film closer to its release in about 2 1/2 weeks but I will say that if you are excited to see it, you are not wrong!
After the screening, we had tickets to go to a comedy show featuring Patton Oswalt but we were too exhausted, so we sold the tickets and went to bed. We had one more big day ahead of us!
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