TVSquad

For those of you attending Comic-Con in San Diego, my hat is off to you. After looking at the schedule for the opening day, Thursday, July 24th, it is a wonder that your eyes don't grow glassy and that vein on the side of your temple doesn't throb with all of the events listed for that day. For those of you not attending, you may be breathing a sigh of relief that you won't have to decide what to attend and what to miss.

Granted, we here at TV Squad are only going to Comic-Con to cover the television-related events. Still, there are quite a few of them going on Thursday, starting when the convention opens and ending as the next day creeps into the night. Panels cover the gamut: public television shows, show revivals, anniversary panels about shows that have been revived, and Robert Smigel. So, if you are going, bring some comfortable shoes, plenty of snacks, and a ton of questions.

If you are not going, but are still interested in seeing what's going on in San Diego, here is a list of TV-related events for the first day of the convention. If you are interested in the complete list of events you can go to Spout blog for Thursday's full Comic-Con schedule.

Our resident Spaced-nut Annie mentioned the upcoming region 1 DVD set back in March. If you haven't seen the show, just the fact that it's coming out is reason enough to go pick it up. It really is as good as everyone says. But if you have seen the show, it looks like this one will be worth checking out for you as well.

As I was going about my workday, a little blurb popped up on twitter from Diablo Cody that said, "SPACED (The ORIGINAL!) is coming out on DVD soon! (And a lucky bitch named Diablo Cody got to contribute commentary.)" That's interesting enough, and you should check out her Twitter feed. It's an entertaining read. Even better though, she goes on to add that we can also expect commentary from Bill Hader, Patton Oswalt, Quentin Tarentino, Matt Stone, and Kevin Smith. Sign me up for that.

A curious search later, Google sent me to spaced-out.org.uk, which confirms the commentary and goes into further detail about the extras included on the new set. They also have some fun quotes about the show from J.J. Abrams, Kevin Smith and Matt Stone.

According to Scifi Wire, the NBC show Heroes has been given a return date of September 15th of this year. However, the proposed spin-off series titled Heroes: Origins has been canceled before it was even broadcast.

As they have done with many shows, NBC plans to kick off the new season by showing a one-hour clip show. This will be followed by a two-hour season premiere. That's three hours of Heroes in one night. That's enough to cause a brain aneurysm for the more ardent Heroes fans.

(S01E09) "I feel like the weirdest drug dealer of all time." -- Bert "Sock" Wysocki

If there were a country populated by MILFs, Julie Cooper would be the President. I never realized how much I missed Melinda Clarke until tonight. She must have a great time running down her resume for people..."I've played a dominatrix, a scheming predator of high school boys and the devil's girlfriend."

(S01E05) Okay, first things first. How cool was it that Chief Tyrol from Battlestar Galactica was a demonic courier from Hell in this episode? His deadpan delivery cracked me up, and he definitely sold me on considering using the devil to deliver things rather than UPS or FedEx. He was definitely much more thorough. I know that Kevin Smith is a huge (no pun intended) BSG fan, so I wonder if he had a hand in this.

This was definitely one of the busiest Reaper episodes ever. Finding out who the escaped soul was took a heck of a lot of shoe leather, and while Ben, Sock, and Sam were out searching, I finally figured out who they remind me of ... a sort of weird, dysfunctional, and gender-unbalanced version of the Mystery Machine gang from Scooby-Doo.

(S01E04) "MOM! DAD! I NEED A RIDE!" -- Sam, collector of escaped souls from Hell.

At least this morning Sam is able to put things in his mouth without them turning into bugs. However, he does the dreaded "drink orange juice right after brushing your teeth" thing, which is worse than shoving a cockroach in your mouth, *shudder*. That has to be a concoction whipped up in the bowels of Hades. Accompanied by the musical sound of nails on a chalkboard.

I guess over the first few episodes of Reaper I was guilty of thinking, "Hey, working for the Devil doesn't seem that bad! You get to have fun with your friends, send souls back to Hell, flirt with Missy Peregrym, get a funky package every so often ... where's the downside?" Well, after seeing bugs appear on everything Sam puts in his mouth and having all of his personal possessions start to vanish, I'm starting to see the cons.

I stopped by my local alehouse with some friends the other night, to hoist a few and talk about the upcoming Fall TV season. Imagine my amazement when, lo and behold, what should appear on the bar in front of me? Coasters for the CW's upcoming comedy / sci-fi show, Reaper.

This is just a quick reminder that today's your last chance to enter the giveaway for the Kevin Smith signed poster of The CW's upcoming new show, Reaper. Just head on over to the original post and read the rules.

We also have a couple of other giveaways today that end this coming Saturday, so give those a chance as well. Good luck!

We've got several giveaways ending later today, so don't miss your chance at entering!

First, we have five copies of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia seasons 1 & 2 on DVD.

Second, we have three copies of season three of The Office on DVD.

Lastly, ending next Tuesday is our giveaway of a Kevin Smith signed Reaper poster.

To enter, visit any of those links I posted above, read the rules and post the applicable comment. Good luck and have a good long weekend (to those lucky enough to have one.) Check back next Monday for more giveaway goodness!

I know, I know. It's old news to most of you die hard BSG fans, but in case you haven't heard, Kevin Smith is no longer going to be directing an episode of Battlestar Galactica as we mentioned earlier.

The initial news we got was via a message board post left on Sci-Fi's forums by the wife of executive producer and creator Ron Moore (thanks commenter Akbar!) Given that there were some people less than thrilled to hear of Smith's involvement with the show, I wanted to get confirmation myself first in case of shenanigans, thus the wait. Unfortunately my contacts couldn't get official word themselves, most likely because even Moore himself has come out to say it's not that big of news, something that "only registers on message boards."

UPDATE: Smith talks about it on his own blog.

Sick of the giveaways yet? I didn't think so. This time we're offering you a Kevin Smith-signed one-sheet poster for The CW's upcoming new show, Reaper. In case you didn't know, Smith directed the pilot episode (which at least Joel and I really dug.) If you want a chance at getting the poster, simply leave a comment below before September 11 and we'll chose one lucky person to receive the poster.

Some other details:
And now we present you with the legalities of the giveaway. (Read them. Please.)

It looks like Kevin Smith is really getting his feet wet in the TV business this year, isn't he? Not only did he direct the very funny pilot to the CW's new series Reaper and write and direct the first episode of Heroes: Origins, but it now looks like he will also be directing an episode of Battlestar Galactica during its upcoming final season, as well.

Smith revealed that little tidbit to our friend Angel Cohn at AOL's TV Tattler, where he spoke about how he came on board all three of his upcoming TV projects, as well as a couple of details about his non-TV work. But, for right now, the most important part of the interview will be the details about his BSG episode...

TV networks come up with a lot of different ways to promote a new show. Print ads, web sites, billboards, promotional clothing and mousepads. And now The CW has another idea: a drink based on the new comedy/supernatural show Reaper.

Of course, it's not just the drink, it's the mega-promotion going along with it. Starting on September 3, the network will have two bars in the top 10 markets for the show not only serving the drink but also showing various clips from the show on their television sets. There will also be someone from the network there to hand out other goodies to the fans/drunks. The promotion will run throughout the month. Full recipe after the jump!

While there are still a couple of panels left to go, things are definitely winding down at the Comic-Con. Stormtroopers are starting to smell a little rank, and the Junior Justice League isn't looking nearly as plucky. As the dust settles and the marketing teams rest their weary heads, what news items are we left with from Ye Old Comic-Con?

The best TV-related news items, in no particular order, follow:

The Heroes Comic-Con panel was jam-packed - so jam-packed that I almost didn't make it in despite getting in line three hours before it kicked-off. Fortunately, I squeaked in for the last 2/3 of the event - just in time to catch the announcement that none other than Kevin Smith would write and direct the first episode of Heroes: Origins, the mid-season replacement spin-off that will feature six episodes introducing six new characters. Viewers will decide which character joins the full-time Heroes cast. Each Origins episode will be directed by a different auteur. We'll be getting more announcements about the talent line-up for Origins in the coming months.