Vote for Petrelli? Looks like he’s gotten a recall.

Nikki Finke has announced that Adrian Pasdar, who played Nathan Petrelli the first few seasons of Heroes, has been let go from the show.

One the one hand, Pasdar’s power set was among the most visually interesting of the show’s first season. That said, considering his increasingly dark characterization — as well as his character eventually being completely annexed by that of Sylar — it’s not too surprising he’s been cut.

So early next year, when Smallville gets their second half of Season 9 under way, there’s the little matter of an episode written by Geoff Johns and featuring key members of the Justice Society (with the one-word title of “Society”). Well, the show’s producers, in their ultimate wisdom, decided that it was too good to confine to one episode, and it’s getting a second part entitled “Legends.”

And with this two-parter, the ever-reliable Michael Ausiello of Entertainment Weekly reports that a veteran Justice LEAGUER will be in on the action: J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter! Self-professed comic book geek Phil Morris will be reprising his role as the Metropolis police detective for the first time this season.

So between Superman (Clark Kent), Green Arrow (Oliver Queen) and Det. John Jones, and Hawkman (Carter Hall), Dr. Fate (Kent Nelson) and Stargirl (Courtney Whitmore), we’re looking at the first live-action crossover between the JLA and JSA!

Hot off the heels of this weekend’s Wonder Woman Day, we at Blog@ found an interesting article from Sci Fi TV Zone, with Deborah Joy Levine. Levine, who created the Lois and Clark television show, apparently was also contacted to create a similar Wonder Woman series.

Here is a highlight from an unearthed interview from way back when:

I guess my new take is that she is a Greek history professor, a young and very bright woman having a hard time juggling her personal life with her work. In this case, of course, her real work is being an Amazon warrior. It’s, like, “I’ll save the world, come home, pop a Lean Cuisine in the oven and watch the soap I taped this afternoon.”

Obviously, the show didn’t take off — and while I dug Lois and Clark (I was seven, give me a break), part of me doesn’t feel bad about this dropped Wondy show at all. As I’ve said to my colleagues before, Wonder Woman is — repeat, is — a good enough property to tell straight, without Sex and the City trappings. And if she was going to riff on another show, wouldn’t Diana merit the West Wing meets superheroics, instead? What do you think, Rama Readers?

Warner Home Video keeps putting all of DC Comics’ animated properties on DVD, and my shelving may need a expansive upgrade. Courtesy of TV Shows on DVD (THE BEST website devoted to, well, TV shows on DVD), WB made available a press release on their latest offering from Super Friends: Season 1, Volume 1.

You can read the press release for all the details of this January 5, 2010 release, but the main gist of this is that we finally got the “Wendy & Marvin Years,” the ones that first put Super Friends on the map. I believe they are also the only SF episodes narrated by the late great Ted Knight, a voice acting staple of DC Comics’ animated output in the 1960s. My only complaint at the moment is the DVD cover art. I never have a problem with the classic stock art by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, but considering that every previous release did something a little more original, refurbishing art from the actual series, this seemed like an uncharacteristically lazy way to go. Plus I can get real nitpicky and point out that the Wonder Woman on this cover is sporting a costume that did not grace the pages of her own comic until almost 10 years later. Considering that this volume has the distinction of featuring Wendy Marvin & Wonder Dog (not to mention guest appearances by the Flash, Green Arrow and Plastic Man), it’s a shame they didn’t work with that into a more unique cover design.

Don’t worry, I’m not talking about a sixth robot lion or leaving the Galaxy Alliance.

But Voltron will be joining a heavy-hitting group, as the Hollywood Reporter announced today that they would be joining United Talent Agency.

According to the report, UTA will be working on a possible cartoon, as well as video game and toy deals. The franchise is also moving toward a full-length feature with Dark Knight producer Charles Roven and his company Atlas Entertainment, as well as Jason Netter’s Kickstart Productions.

Sci Fi Wire has put up a trailer from RHI Entertainment for SyFy’s new Phantom pilot film, starring Ryan Carnes and written by Daniel and Charles Knaupf.

Look, I am all about giving a new product a chance — remember, this is the guy who raved about an Elektra tie-in miniseries, despite having a lot of antipathy for the character beforehand — but I’m pretty sure this trailer lost me at “MY PARENTS ARE DEEEEAAAD!!!!” Of course, you should keep watching to see the new Phantom suit in action.

That said, while it may not be my cup of tea, it could certainly be yours — what do you think?

It’s possible that you’ll be seeing a change of ownership of your favorite NBC Universal shows like “Heroes,” “Battlestar Galactica,” and the whole SyFy channel because it’s possible that Comcast Corp is going to make a play for the whole shooting match: a major network and movie studio and powerful cable channels like MSNBC, CNBC and Bravo. That would be a huge leap in content for Comcast which currently owns such channels as E! Entertainment Television and G4.

According to The Los Angeles Times, Comcast Corp, the nation’s biggest cable company, is in talks to buy NBC Universal. While there has been speculation over the future of NBC Universal, it is far from certain what will happen next.

This isn’t the first time that Comcast has made such a bid. Five years ago it attempted to buy Disney for $54 billion. The article states that “While NBC Universal is valued at up to $35 billion, Comcast has a market cap of $48 billion and about $4 billion in cash. This would make it a highly leveraged buyout of NBC Universal.”

In a story full of scenarios, The Times makes a very interesting comics-related point. It may turn out that Time Warner, owner of DC Comics, could be in the best position to be the ultimate buyer of NBC Universal.

For the complete story, visit The Los Angeles Times here.

UPDATE: We now have an interview with Kirkman on the mothership, containing a bit more information, so head on over and check it out!

MTV has a nice interview up with Robert Kirkman, discussing the television adaptation of The Walking Dead with AMC and director Frank Darabont.

The question that really caught my attention was why Walking Dead — which has all the gore and swears you’d expect out of a comic with zombies — was on AMC, rather than a no-holds-barred station like HBO or Showtime:

I had no concerns about that whatsoever, because one of the concerns I have about zombie fiction is when they rely too much on the shocking gore aspects. That’s not really the point of “Walking Dead,” so to a certain extant, I think it will work better at AMC—because it forces people not to rely on that stuff. As far as “Walking Dead” not having teeth on AMC, if you’ve ever seen [certain episodes of] “Mad Men” or “Breaking Bad,” they push a lot of boundaries as far as content goes.

In fact, I just had a meeting with a bunch of the executives at AMC, and Darabont, and Gale Anne Hurd and David Alpert at Circle of Confusion, and the executives were talking to Darabont about his script and they said, “You can’t use the F-word.” That was the only limitation they gave him. We were all stunned.

Considering Kirkman is an executive producer on the show, I doubt it’ll veer too far off his own creative sensibilities, even as he has said that the show doesn’t have to follow the comic’s trajectory to the letter. And if AMC is really only saying “no F-words,” this zombie show might have some teeth. What do you think?

Batman: The Brave and the Bold
The Mayhem of the Music Meister

“As I regale you with my story
you know you’ll have no choice
but to do my evil bidding
when you hear this booming voice!”

– Music Meister (Neil Patrick Harris)

This is the musical episode that you’ve heard about that was shown at San Diego Comic Con this year, and it was worth the wait. Well, to me anyways. I have a theater background, as well as a degree in it, so this was right up my alley. It hasn’t debuted yet on American TV, but aired a few days ago over in the UK.
Today, I see it found its way to YouTube and below my review is the episode yourself (split into 3 parts) in case you want to view it yourself.

Now, I am a bit biased towards something like this. I mean, we’ve seen Adam West’s Batman dance, but this is something entirely different all together. Neil Patrick Harris supplies the voice for the Music Meister (a villain that resembles the Fiddler) though instead he uses song to induce a trance instead of an instrument. There are some great musical numbers here and NPH does an excellent job showcasing his talent. For those of you worried, Diedrich Bader’s Batman doesn’t have a song, though Grey DeLisle as Black Canary nails it. Then again, are you really surprised by Ms. DeLisle’s extraordinary voice? You shouldn’t be by now.
There’s action, drama and a tad of romance thrown in this episode. Just when I thought this show couldn’t get any better, they throw something like this at me. Michael Jelenic (who has worked on the Wonder Woman and Legion of Super-Heroes animated programs) wrote four out of the six songs and they are sure to drive you batty, but, in a good way.

Author’s Note:
However, while they were linked to the official Batman: The Brave and the Bold Facebook Fan page, the episode has been since taken down. We apologize for those who didn’t get a chance to view it.

Comic artist to TV director might not seem like the most obvious jump, but it makes sense if you think about it a bit, I suppose. Anyway, according to Splash Page, John Cassaday is set to direct an episode of Dollhouse this season.

“He’s going to f— up so much,” joked Whedon of the fan-favorite artist’s “Dollhouse” debut behind the camera.

“He’s a storyteller,” said Whedon of Cassaday. “I gave him shorter scripts than any other artist I’ve worked with because he has an extraordinary visual sense and it very much matches my own. … I know him as a person, his sensibility, the way he is with other people and I just feel that this step is logical for him, it’s something he’s been pursuing for a while.”

While the celebrated “Planetary” artist will be flexing slightly different muscles to direct the “Dollhouse” episode, he’s still looking to contribute in the area of production he knows best, too.

“The only problem we have is he wants to storyboard his episode, and I’m like, ‘You do know that it’s a script that will be late, right?’” said Whedon.

We’ve already seen the awesome that was Whedon/Cassaday in comic form; what will they dream up for live action?

In honor of the longest-running soap opera’s final episode today, Marvel has rereleased a comic teaming up the Avengers with the cast of Guiding Light.

Jim McCann, who has some experience with soap opera having worked on One Life to Live, wrote this project in 2006, along with artist Udon. The book is free in its entirety on Marvel.com. What say you?

Anthony E. Zuiker has made an impressive career as the creator of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. In 2007, nearly 84 million people watched CSI, making it the most watched show in the world. Zuiker’s talent at telling a good crime story has led him to launch his next major project, Level 26, the world’s first digi-novel. Written with Duane Swierczynski (Severance Package), Level 26 is about a seriously demented serial killer and the tortured FBI investigator who is forced to hunt him down. Level 26 releases on September 8.

The interactive quality of this digi-novel is handled by EQAL, with roots going back to its creation of the internet sensation, lonelygirl15. And, while Level 26 is not directly related to comics, there’s a lot going on with its interactive components that someday may become common to the comics medium. Also, there is already a line of CSI comics put out by IDW and who knows what may lie ahead.

Zuiker has an energetic and commanding presence. He stays on point with ease. When asked if he thought his “digi-novel” was the future of reading, he gracefully said no claims on the future have been made. The one sure claim is that he is excited about what he’s doing. It was a pleasure to chat with him at Comic-Con International: San Diego.

Blog@Newsarama:Tell us what it was like for you growing up as your writing talents emerged.

Anthony E. Zuiker: As an only child in Las Vegas, I would often, just for fun, write letters for people as a favor.  Just formal letters.  I was sort of 16 of 16 in letter writing meaning that whenever someone asked me to write something, like get their girlfriend back or a letter to a judge to get out of jail, I would bat a thousand. I was in the hall of fame of letter writing. Then all through high school and in college I would charge people to write their term papers for $300.00 overnight and they were guaranteed at least a B plus. I made a lot of money doing that. When I was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame at UNLV, I said that before they awarded me that maybe I should confess that I put about hundred people through college. My father always said that I had some talent as a writer and I guess I believed him. I’ve always had a way of putting what I’ve envisioned on the page. When I wrote my first movie, The Runner, it went right to video but it was an interesting piece of work with an authentic voice and it landed me an agent and a manager. My first TV script was CSI. It got green lit and, obviously, it took off. We went on to do CSI: Miami and CSI: New York.  I guess my visual way of thinking really worked simpatico with the philosophy of writing scripts in Hollywood.

BLOG@: Do you believe it had something to do with being at the right place at the right time?

ZUIKER: For CSI?  I think so. I think every great show is a sign of the times. It began in the aftermath of the OJ trial. People were just becoming fascinated with forensics. I was able to come in with a show set in Las Vegas, set in the graveyard shift. The idea of people actually going into a crime scene, scrutinizing evidence and the story being put together in flashback, that style of storytelling, felt like a modern day mystery. It felt like a mystery genre of our generation. People liked that. They were learning and watching at the same time which was highly efffective. And with a great cast, CSI had that mystery magic, this different way to tell a cop show which is what I call, “from the crime scene tape down.” And it worked.

BLOG@: It seems like CSI could go on forever. Do you see interest in the franchise shifting?

ZUIKER: Well, what goes up must come down.  You know, we are doing our best right now with all three shows to stay in the top 15, to keep challenging our audience.  We’ve killed people in many different ways. We continue to look for different ways to excite us and excite an audience. We feel because its is a procedural drama, and everybody loves a good mystery,  it has some good long legs to it, we believe.

BLOG@: Let’s say, somebody is totally in the dark on Level 26. How would you describe it?

ZUIKER: We are coining it as “the world’s first digi-novel.”  What a digi-novel is, is it takes all the elements of publishing, movies and internet and combines experience. Level 26 is a horror prime drama. Every twenty pages that you read, you log onto the Web site, Level26.com, enter a code at the end of that chapter, and it unlocks a piece of motion picture footage which bridges you from one chapter to another, so its a continuation of the story, visually, its about three minutes long.  There’s twenty of those experiences per book.  So you figure twenty pages times twenty bridges is about a four hundred page book. That is what the book is, also.  Sometimes its a horror scene, sometimes is a love scene, sometimes its a music video, sometimes when you call the killer, the killer calls your phone back.  So its very interactive.  We feel like in this attention economy, with how fast things are moving with technology, to ask someone to read twenty pages and then see a visual continuance, is a good rhythmic experience, rather than read four hundred pages and do nothing else.  If you read the book cover to cover, no problem.  But the best experience is to read, log in and watch, read, log in and watch.  And then become part of a social community, built by the lonelygirl15 creators, Miles and Greg,  to have this social site that is basically like a Facebook page Level 26, with all the bells and whistles of an interactive Web site.

BLOG@: Do you see this as just another form of entertainment or, in the future, as the way people read?

ZUIKER: Well you know, I think the audience and the reader will determine that.   We are not taking the position that we are going to replace publishing in its current state. My philosophy is that, in this generation, you need to go to your audience and recognize your audience’s behaviors. People now, when they watch television, they’re also on their computer, they’re tweeting, they’re chatting, they’re checking email, they’re TiVoing,  they’re doing multiple things at one time. So to ask someone to sit down and read a 400 page book in this generation, I think, is a tough ask, especially for  younger people. If you can provide them with these visceral/visual speed bumps it might get more young people to read. I think that’s a victory. And, if you’re an existing reader, who already loves to read, quite possibly you’ll try a different way to consume which is to read and watch the bridges. So, we feel that we’re trying to bridge the gap between an older generation and a younger generation in the spirit of where technology is going.

BLOG@: Basically, it can appeal to any age group.

ZUIKER: Here’s the litmus test.  Read the first twenty pages of Level 26, then you watch the first film, something you’ll probably find edgy and cool. If you’re not engaged by it, I may lose you as a customer. But, if you are, I think you’ll probably finish reading it that night. It’s pretty exciting.

BLOG@: The buzz concept in the entertainment industry is transmedia, the book sells the movie, the movie sells the game and so on. It seems like you’re sort of there with Level 26 or could you tell us where you might fit in?

ZUIKER: Sure, transmedia versus what we are doing is a little different. Transmedia is having one brand and launching it in various avenues. We’d certainly like to do that but our core concern is transmedia inside the narrative meaning you go from book to motion picture to Web site and it’s all inclusive in one experience so it’s nice and tight. It’s not about just creating a character and seeing if we can launch it on the Web, on the radio, on a phone and so on. That may eventually happen to Level 26 but, for now, we’re keeping it at the core of our philosophy which is: read, watch and log in and have a compelling story and let people consume that way. We’re not going to jump off any cliffs but keep to the core philosophy of what the digi-novel represents which is reading, watching and logging in.

BLOG@: How would describe in a nugget the story, Level 26?

ZUIKER: Level 26 is about Steve Dark, an ex-Quantico who works in Special Services which involves the worst and most horrific crimes that I can’t possibly tell you here. He’s been chasing an elusive killer named, Sqweegel for  twenty years who has killed over 30 people and has killed Steve Dark’s family. Steve Dark is retired.  He has met the love of his life, she’s pregnant and suddenly they get a message that Sqweegel has returned and he’s been inside Steve’s home. Steve is sucked back into pursuing Sqweegel. And that’s where it all begins.

BLOG@: I know you’re a busy man. Thank you for your time.

ZUIKER: I really appreciate it. Awesome.

TV Guide provides is with the first look at Brian Austin Green (Beverly Hills 90210, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) as John Corben, better known to Superman fans as METALLO. Thanks to this, by way of Smallville, I now have a reason to gladly stay home on Friday nights.

Power of — water! Shape of — Tom Welling getting hosed!

Sci Fi Scoop, who illustrated the point with the image above, has reported that Smallville might get a bit more… wonderful… with the introduction of the Wonder Twins.

According to them, David Gallagher (the 7th Heaven actor, not to be confused with the similar-yet-different spelling of the High Moon creator) and Allison Scagliotti (Warehouse 13) are going to be on the show, and are rumored to be playing the Wonder Twins.

Now, you could argue, as Topless Robot does, that this means the show is officially out of ideas. I, for one, am curious to see if Gleek will make his live action appearance.

[Original Source: Kryptonsite]

Variety has announced that AMC is signing a development deal to produce a series based on Robert Kirkman’s Image comic book series, The Walking Dead.

Included in the discussions is Shawshank Redemption director Frank Darabont and Terminator producer Gale Ann Hurd.

“This is not about zombies popping out of closets,” said AMC SVP of programming, Joel Stillerman to Variety. “This is a story about survival, and the dynamics of what happens when a group is forced to survive under these circumstances. The world is portrayed in a smart, sophisticated way.”

Of course, regular readers of the series know that the characters don’t always survive. In fact, the often shocking “anyone can die” theme of the book is often considered by fans and critics to be a hallmark. Speaking of a particular death from 2008, Newsarama’s Best Shots Team leader Troy Brownfield said Walking Dead held, “the most shocking page in mainstream comics this year. I’d figured for years that one of them would get it, but the other? And in that way? Heartbreaking. And creatively invigorating.”

The book, which began in 2003, dovetailed nicely with Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later to really help cement the zombie zeitgeist in comics. The tales of Rick Grimes and other survivors has led The Walking Dead to be Image’s top-selling series, even recently being used to promote other non-Kirkman written series from Image, including Chew and Viking.
UPDATE: Image Comics has released the following press release, confirming the Variety report and following it up with quotes from Kirkman about his admiration for Darabont. The press release promises more details to come, though, suggesting that maybe there’s a little more than just development limbo in store for The Walking Dead.

PRESS RELEASE – FRANK DARABONT RESURRECTS THE WALKING DEAD AT AMC!

AMC and Frank Darabont bring Robert Kirkman’s epic tale of human survival to the small screen!

12 August 2009 (Berkeley, CA) - As announced in Variety and Hollywood Reporter, AMC has signed on to bring THE WALKING DEAD to television screens. Image Comics’ epic tale of human survival in the face of a zombie apocalypse by writer Robert Kirkman and illustrator Charlie Adlard is being adapted as an ongoing television series by Shawshank Redemption and Stephen King’s The Mist director Frank Darabont.

“I’m a huge fan of Frank Darabont’s body of work and AMC has impressed me to no end with Breaking Bad and Mad Men,” Kirkman said. “I couldn’t be happier with THE WALKING DEAD ending up here.”

THE WALKING DEAD deal will bring Darabont in not only as Executive Producer, but also as writer and director on the adaptation. Terminator producer Gale Anne Hurd of Valhalla Motion Pictures and David Alpert from Circle of Confusion will also produce. While further information is under wraps, the plan is to keep the show extremely faithful to the Kirkman and Adlard’s comic book series.

More details on AMC’s adaptation of THE WALKING DEAD will be announced shortly.

A friend forwarded me this article on Slate on the new vampire phenomenon, and pointed out a piece of it that I haven’t thought much about: the new sexy vampires don’t actually drink blood. Or if they do, they don’t kill.

Yet, like many people who acquire mega-celebrity, the vampire has developed an eating disorder. Read the books. Watch the movies. You’ll see vampires who manage nightclubs, build computer databases, work as private investigators, go to prep school, lobby Congress, chat with humans, live near humans, have sex with humans, and pine over humans, but the one thing you won’t see them do is suck the blood of humans.

Grady Hendrix snarks on a lot of the most popular vampires of recent pop culture, starting with Anne Rice and moving on to the one that many of my peers grew up crushing on: Angel, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Faced with the impact of his diet on humans, Angel accepts a yucky, cruelty-free substitute, then endlessly lectures other vampires about their moral failings because they don’t do the same. He’s not a vampire—he’s a vegan.

I’ve more than once made the comparison of Angel to Edward Cullen in Twilight, but I hadn’t thought about the spiral this way: as one spinning from less and less consumption of human blood. (There are, of course, occasional recurrences of the bloodthirsty, evil vampires like those of 30 Days of Night, but I digress.)

But Hendrix doesn’t seem to actually be that up on the details of Buffy. Witness:

At least Angel, Anita Blake’s vampires, Sookie Stackhouse, and most of the rest of them have a lot of sex.

Well, I haven’t gotten around to Anita Blake or into True Blood yet, but I know my Buffy, and Angel didn’t have a lot of sex–because if and when he did, he lost his soul and turned evil. People love to compare Buffy to Twilight, but the fact is that Angel and Edward Cullen indeed have a lot in common. They can’t get it on with their human lady-loves, because something BAAAD could happen. They don’t drink blood, because they have consciences.

The whole story of both Angel and Edward Cullen, in other words, is that of the monster tamed by the woman he loves. The just-bad-enough boy who’s really a sweetheart on the inside. Sure, Buffy kicks Angel to the curb (after running him through with a sword) but soon enough she’s taken up with a new vampire–this one with a chip in his brain so he can’t, er, drink human blood.

I don’t agree with Hendrix’s faux concern for the way kids might be receiving mixed messages from their media, because I tend to read media for clues about the way we’re already heading, not look at it as something that shapes us. Pop culture as a symptom. So what does it signify to me that out of millions of books, I see more women (yes, grown women) on the subway reading Twilight books than anything else? After all, we’re adults. We’re not adolescent girls having our perception of men shaped by some sensitive emo-boy vampire. We already know that relationships are messy and fraught with danger.

True Blood is next on my Netflix list, so until then, I really can’t comment on the symbolism there, but this piece has set me thinking in yet another way about what it might be that we get from these defanged monsters. If you take away the blood drinking and sleeping in coffins (which neither Angel nor Edward do), what do you have but a boyfriend who never grows old?

Apparently so. This show has been talked about for a while now and it’s good to see some actual footage. Marvel released this little clip (more of a music video actually) of the show and I’m intrigued. Marvel really doesn’t have a show like this out now, or has EVER made a show like this.

I’m a big fan of the SHS toys, I have several that surround my kitchen and my office. I’ll give this show a try especially after hearing some of the voice actors involved: Mark Hamill as Red Skull, James Marsters as Mr. Fantastic and George Takei as Galactus. In addition to the show, coming out this fall, a variety of Super Hero Squad merchandise spin-offs are planned, including a video game from THQ (also coming out this fall), expansion of the Hasbro toy line, and a major fastfood partnership.

So, what do you readers think of the clip? Do you think it’s something you and your child would watch, or is just too kiddie?

For those of you who didn’t watch Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night, you missed out on some comicky goodness!

In last night’s episode, the comedian went to the San Diego Comic Con met up with industry figures like Stan Lee, Dan Didio, Geoff Johns, and Jon Favreau to discuss his comic book character, which I will refer to as “Rechargo Boy.” He’s solar-powered, and looks suspiciously like a late-night host.

While Johns kind of made me chuckle with his response, it’s Stan Lee that (as always) steals the show. You can see the full episode, which this is in the first segment of, by clicking here.

I was talking with someone at SDCC about the Heroes panel and all the love that was shared between the show and its fans. And yet the show seemed suspect to me because of how well-financed its marketing campaign is. The first thing she asked me was, “Is that show still popular?” In a nutshell, Heroes was something special when it started out and then it turned into something that, despite all the money thrown at it, lost its way.

Judging by the Nissan Cube giveaways and an elaborate carnival set to promote Heroes at Comic-Con International, I’d say Universal is very serious about promoting the heck out of its once golden property.

Having stood in a hopelessly long line for the two Dollhouse panels, it is interesting to me to consider how much less money Joss Whedon’s creation needed to spend in its SDCC campaign compared to Heroes and perhaps…how much more popular, and better, Dollhouse is than Heroes. From what I could tell, posters were all that Dollhouse needed to get the word out.

Friday at San Diego Comic-Con was a full day for me. Here is a quick run-down of what’s been going on lately from my vantage point:

• EQAL and Anthony Zuiker Present LEVEL 26: I had the pleasure to interview Miles Beckett who, with Greg Goodfried, run EQAL, a company that produces original interactive content online. They have come a long way since their first lonelygirl15 videos and now have teamed up with Anthony Zuiker, the creator of the CSI franchise, to bring you, LEVEL 26, the world’s first “digi-novel,” a fully interactive novel. It’s a very cool idea that, thanks to some awesome talent behind it, is something to really look forward to. You can start right in and see for yourself. I will provide you guys with the full interview in a later post and some other interesting news about this and other related projects in future posts.
• COMICPALOOZA SHOUT OUT: I have to thank P. J. Holmes for allowing me to borrow his laptop at a critical moment here at SDCC, the home of critical moments. Check out the great comics con of the Southwest, Comicpalooza.
• THE PRISONER PANEL: I caught the tale end of this panel and it really came across as a genuine lovefest for this film by the actors, Jim Caviezel, Jamie Campbell-Bower and Lennie James; writer, Bill Gallagher; AMC’s Vlad Wolynetz, vice president of production; and producer/director Robert Meyer Burnett. I will just say here that the sneak peek clip was very cool with the sinister “Two” character played wonderfully by none other than Ian McKellen! The scene has “Two” wondering if anyone really likes him as he tosses a grenade into the trembling hands of an assistant who can’t quite bring himself to say he actually likes his insane boss. I also should say that this is a six-part mini-series and runs for three consecutive nights in November on AMC.
• NO ROOM FOR ME AT DOLLHOUSE BUT FAN COMES TO RESCUE: I tried. I stood in one of the longest lines you’ll ever want to see for a very long time only to be told that they had a packed house. No one dared move at first and only a few hesitantly gave up and walked away. But all was not lost, really, since I  got a fan to give me the scoop on what’s going on with Dollhouse. Andre Walker, a lean man in his thirties, let me know that the series has problems but that fans are willing to wait. “It’s got some good stuff but it needs character development. It’s not like Buffy or Angel. There’s only a few characters right now I really care about. Eliza Dushku’s main character is not someone people care about like they should. And, hey, it’s Joss Whedon. Give him time. Just look at Firefly. That was a bumpy ride at first.”