TVSquad

Seth Green and the Robot Chicken: Star Wars team are taking a skate show on the road to promote the release of the sequel on DVD.

Adult Swim's Robot Chicken: Star Wars -- Episode II comes to DVD conveniently in time for San Diego Comic-Con, and Green will kick-off a national bus tour of roller skating rinks for two weeks to hype the disc.

It's a hip choice for Robot Chicken: Star Wars, as the first DVD in the series included a funny "Star Wars on Ice" segment.

It seems like a no-brainer that television and Comic-Con would go together like peanut butter and jelly. But TV has actually been a bit slow to the game and viewed their presence at Comic-Con as something that goes together like peanut butter and regular butter (trust me, I've tried peanut butter and butter, and it's not good).

This year, studios have recognized the importance of the annual geek con-fab and are presenting more shows and panels than ever before. There is going to be more TV at the Con than you can shake a stick at, so don't forgot your shaking sticks.

Why so many? Variety reports that studios and networks are recognizing the buzz they can generate at the convention through electronic social networking and good ol' word-of-mouth by showcasing and premiering exclusive screenings of their shows.

Lionel Lum's awesome Bumblebee costume was one of the many cool things I saw at last year's San Diego Comic-Con. The giant show floor was packed with sweaty costumed fans, big geek friendly displays, and a few not-so incognito celebs. Folks at home got a small taste of all the corporate sponsored nerdery thanks to G4's daily coverage. This year, G4 will air the first televised panel in the convention's history.

Attack of the Show hosts Olivia Munn and Kevin Pereira will host "The Star Wars Spectacular." The taped panel will feature special guests, a table read and new footage from Cartoon Network's Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The panel will take place July 24 and air July 25 at 2 p.m. on G4. After the panel broadcast, G4 will air three live hours (on the East Coast) of Comic-Con coverage with celeb interviews and more.

And Smallville refuses to give up the spotlight.

In less than a month, we've heard talk about a possible spinoff for the CW series, read heated speculation over a simple casting notice, and reported on two major casting announcements. Now we're reading rumors about a possible Smallville TV movie called Metropolis that could serve as a coda to the show's ninth, and probably final, season.

The rumor -- and I repeat: rumor -- comes from the boys at AICN who say a source got a glimpse of some Smallville promotional signage for the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con. Reportedly, the source, who goes by the handle "Yoda's Bitch," eyed some signage somewhere, presumably on the planet Earth, featuring the words "Metropolis: Christmas 2010" in Smallville-style font. The sign is also supposedly advertising Smallville's upcoming Comic-Con panel. AICN says they have info that this possible Metropolis project could be a TV movie set to head into production after May 2010. Read more at SciFi Squad.

Doctor Who's David Tennant (right) and Who/Torchwood executive producer Russell T. Davies are headed to Comic-Con for the first time this year -- just in time for both of them to walk away from sci-fi's longest running TV series.

It should be a huge event, as fans of both Doctor Who and Torchwood will get their first chance to grill the people most directly responsible for the shows' development over the last few years.

Tennant, will appear alongside Davies, former Who executive producer Julie Gardner and Who/Torchwood director Euros Lyn at this year's Comic-Con in San Diego on Sunday, July 26, 10-11:00 am PT.

Fox is releasing an exclusive, limited-edition Dollhouse DVD set for this July's Comic-Con in San Diego. The full details about the Comic-Con set still haven't leaked, but you can pre-order a similar limited-edition DVD or Blu-ray Season One set from FoxStore.com starting July 6.

Those sets will only be on sale through July 20. Fox is making 5,000 of the numbered sets, which will include a special Comic-Con faceplate and a "lenticular letter" by show creator Joss Whedon. The sets available at Comic-Con will most likely feature some extra goodies.

If you're a Dollhouse fan heading to the big show in July, I highly recommend picking one of these up and hanging around the hot dog vendors in the late afternoon. That's where I spotted Mr. Whedon during last year's Comic-Con. The man is very fan-friendly. He was nice enough to chat with me for a bit and even pose for a picture. Unfortunately, I went home without an autograph. I didn't have any copies of his Buffy or X-Men comics for him to sign, and I was too timid to ask him to sign my man breast. (Ah, opportunities lost.)

Braving the crowds and the weather, I managed to attend the 2009 New York Comic Con for the weekend. While I wasn't able to see everything or sit in on every panel, I thought I'd give an overall synopsis of the stuff I did manage to do as it relates to television.

I should note that Robert Culp and William Katt were both at the Con giving us a Greatest American Hero reunion. They were kind enough to pose for a picture.

I arrived at 1 p.m. on Friday, and after a short wait as I and my fellow geeks was slowly herded in like cattle, I browsed around the dealer room.

It's that time of year again, isn't it? That brief period between the humongous holidays of Halloween and Christmas that television and retail outlets have forgotten about. I talk about Thanksgiving, of course. The holiday of football games, unbuttoned pants, family arguments, and giant Snoopy balloons. It is also the time to give thanks.

Thanks for what? Well, we aren't trading chickens for a gallon of gas yet, so that's something. And, we still have television, which we can eventually trade in for chickens in order to get a gallon of gas. But, since our television shows are more important than driving in many cases, we may just start riding our bikes and eat peanut butter sandwiches instead.

With those happy thoughts, here is what I am thankful for when it comes to the flat screen idiot box.

(Check out part three of this four-part report)

Tired of hearing about Comic-Con? Figured all the talk was over? Sorry to disappoint you, but due to an untimely vacation (vacation untimely? Wha...how?) and a bit of reflection on my first trip to the big 'Con, I was able to get this last bit complete for you.

The Sci Fi / Entertainment Weekly Party

Man did it feel good to have gone to my last panel. I had much sympathy for Rich, who had another nearly-full day ahead of him on Sunday. So, we went out to finally get a decent meal at an actual restaurant downtown before we had to head off to the party. We had no idea at all what to expect from the party -- would there be food? Free booze? Who would be there?

TrekMovie.com has posted screen shots of the new posters for the upcoming Star Trek movie. These posters (four in total) were apparently given out at the recent VegasCon to go with four given out at the SDCC of Kirk and Spock. From left to right, the posters are of Sulu, Scotty, McCoy and Chekov.

Frankly, I don't think any of them look like the originals. John Cho has a longer face than George Takei. Simon Pegg looks like a smaller guy (at least they didn't immediately give him the mustache that James Doohan later grew). It's tough to tell with Karl Urban because of the angle of his profile, but he looks nowhere near as ornery as Deforest Kelley. Anton Yelchin has a much stronger jaw than Walter Koenig.

Do you think people would watch a movie in which they basically use only the names and don't really try to duplicate the looks of the original actors? I suppose this won't bother a new generation of Trek fans who don't know the original cast anyway. What do you think?

I was a sad little Venture Bros. fan at the peak of convention season this year, as I was unable to attend last month's Comic-Con. My pain was somewhat soothed by the presence of the Internet though, for I knew Flickr and YouTube would surely erupt with fan-documented material, with which I could experience the con vicariously.

As it turned out... not so much. Despite scouring the blogosphere, I didn't find much in the following days, apart from a few photos of my friends in Dr. Girlfriend get-ups posing with Jackson Publick and a brief report of one dirty joke from the panel. Well, probably because they could sense my silent fan-sobbing from across the country, the lovely folks from Adult Swim online have directed us to this video from the panel with Jackson Publick and Mike Sinterniklaas. It's edited down from a longer event, but there are still plenty of good moments.

One of the highlights of the Sci Fi / EW party at Comic-Con was being able to talk to and shake the hand of Joss Whedon. It's no secret that I'm a fan of his work, and with the incredible presence of Dr. Horrible and Dollhouse at this year's Comic-Con, it's no mystery why he was at the 'Con.

Unfortunately for me, I had no idea he was going to be heading down that red carpet, so in hindsight I of course have a ton of questions I would have liked to have thought of at the time. Since my time was limited with everyone anyway, I kept it relevant to what was going on at the 'Con as best I could.

I've got more to add later about the discussion regarding the digital medium, but that will be a different post down the road. As for Joss, he's very easy to talk to and my transcription doesn't really show how good-natured the conversation was. At one point Eliza Dushku stepped in to say hello to us -- you don't see that every day.

For those who haven't seen them, NBC has posted a set of hilarious videos involving Triumph the Insult Comic Dog appearing at the San Diego Comic-Con. Triumph creator Robert Smigel was at the event to plug the DVD of his short-lived Comedy Central series TV Funhouse, so it should come as no surprise that the puppet dog he created would show up as well.

Despite Triumph's insults against the nerd community, it should be known that Robert Smigel is a bigger nerd than anybody attending the convention. This is useful as he can at least insult fellow conventioneers with knowledge. This must make his insults sting all the more.

I had the pleasure of seeing Triumph live at a comedy concert. However, once you've been to one of his live shows, you can tell that his television appearances are heavily edited to make sure only his best bits appear. Despite this, Triumph remains hilarious to watch in any medium.

Videos are after the jump.

I'll have a longer post about the Sci Fi / Entertainment Weekly party early next week, but I wanted to post a couple of short interviews I was able to grab at the party first. I actually wasn't intending to interview anyone at this party, but since Rich had his handy recorder with him, I made a few choice picks from the red carpet while I had the chance.

First up: Tricia Helfer. With Battlestar Galactica finished filming, she's been busy in a guest-starring role on Burn Notice. Hell, this woman's on two shows I love and, come on, it's Tricia Helfer. I was the last person in line on the carpet, so I kept it short. She was extremely nice and open to talk to.

So there I was, sitting in the last aisle seat of the last row on my Southwest flight back to Baltimore. I was tired, hungry, grumpy, and the handle on my suitcase broke. Yet, there was a feeling of accomplishment that enveloped me as my plane lifted off the runway from San Diego International Airport and my first trip to Comic-Con International officially ended.

At least I thought it was accomplishment I was feeling. As I awaited the desperately small morning meal provided by the flight attendants (a six-pack of cheese crackers), I contemplated the feelings I had about the convention. On the one hand, I did feel accomplished, because I was able to see and report on so many television-related panels that I, and well as readers of TV Squad, were interested in knowing about. On the other hand, I was feeling a bit disappointed that I didn't make all of the panels I wanted to nor spend more time on the ginormous exhibit floor. On the third hand, I was angry at the way the convention organizers handled the whole thing -- preventing a good many fans of various television shows to wait on long lines without even getting close to the door that led to the hallway, that led to the ballroom, where their panel was being held.

So, you could say that I had a feeling of disappointed accomplishment tinged with anger. Plus, soft pretzels were $4 a piece at the convention center, which would piss anyone off!