Comic-Con 2012 Saturday afternoon recap: Bryan Fuller, Bryan Fuller, Bryan Fuller, and Pushing Daisies

This year I spent quality, warm, daylight hours hanging out in the dark, well air-conditioned, San Diego Convention Center. For day 2, I had an early run in the exhibit hall but couldn't resist getting to Room 7AB super early in order to work my way up to best seat in the house for A Conversation with Bryan Fuller. Naturally, I did just that.

The two panels prior were PlayStation 3: The Unfinished Swan and VIZ Media: Shonen Jump Alpha, both of which I knew nothing about prior to going and know very little about now. Can you tell that I'm less interested in the games and comics portion of Comic-Con and more interested in the television portion? I know, that probably makes me a bandwagon nerd, but at least I'm not one of those people who only shows up for Twilight, right?

Back to Bryan Fuller...

Before the panel started, this woman made an announcement that photography and recordings of any kind were not allowed and my heart broke a little inside. Obviously, recording the sneak peek materials is a no-no, but no pictures of the panelists?! Everyone around me was bummed but we obeyed. Too bad these press people totally ignored the request and were busy snapping away and getting in our way the whole time. I wanted to get my camera out, but I also feared getting removed from the panel so all I managed was a stealth phone picture.

Butch Patrick, as in the original Eddie Munster, introduced the panel with a lead into some clips from Mockingbird Lane, starring Portia de Rossi (Arrested Development), Jerry O'Connell (Sliders), and Eddie Izzard. Mockingbird Lane is a remake of the original Munsters series, written by Bryan Fuller who considers himself a huge fan of The Munsters. Mockingbird Lane is currently filming at Universal, and the clips they provided show a young Eddie Munster transform into a werewolf while on a scout camping trip. He proceeds to terrorize his scout troop. We also get a look inside the Munster house and meet the family. I have not seen much of the original Munsters, so I have nothing to compare the plot to, but the clips did have a fantasy/dreamy feel, heavy in red and green hues that remind me of some of Fuller's other work. There is also this element of comedy in the horror. Fuller proves himself to be great at making dark situations, light. He credits this to the fact that he spent a lot of time at funerals as a kid, and that the funerals were more of a celebration than a sad gathering.

After talk of Mockingbird Lane, Fuller followed up with a discussion on his other upcoming project, the TV series Hannibal. They didn't have any sneak peeks of this project, but Fuller did credit NBC with being fully supportive of the project and he talked of plans for future seasons as though there was no question as to whether or not the show would make it. It is amazing how optimistic he remains despite the early cancellation of Wonderfalls, Pushing Daisies, Dead Like Me. According to IMDb Hannibal premieres mid-season in January.

Naturally, Pushing Daisies came up in the Q&A portion and Fuller hinted that he is working on something that is not a comic or a TV show that would give us another chance to see the Pie Maker in action. He wouldn't give more details because "Then if it doesn't happen, I look like a jerk!"

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Bryan Fuller?

After the panel concluded I had no problem whipping out my camera, but first I raced to the stage for an autograph. I had a straight shot to the stage, which worked to my advantage because even before I managed to ask for an autograph, the room security was pushing people out of the room, "No time for questions! Please clear the room for the next panel."

Mr. Fuller was amazingly nice and obliged my request to autograph my Wonderfalls DVDs as I stumbled to form a cohesive sentence. I think I managed "I'm a huge fan" as I shook his hand and tried not to burst with excitement. That is actually a near exact retelling of my meeting Joss Whedon last year, only I'm pretty sure the excitement for Bryan Fuller was much greater.

And then I snapped randomly as we were shoveled out of the room to make room for the next panel.

We also got free Hannibal t-shirts.

Picture taken from @BryanFuller, mask not included.

Comic-Con 2012 Friday recap: Syfy Defiance, Anthony Bourdain, Falling Skies, Firefly

Comic-Con trip numero 2 has come and gone and I am finally getting myself back onto a normal sleep routine. We came a bit better prepared this year than we were last year, but we still faced some sad panel rejections because, yet again, we weren't there early enough.

We got in line for tickets around 5:30am, and were among the first 100 to register that day, so that worked out nicely.

Unfortunately, we determined about 5 hours too late that attempting to get into Ballroom 20 on the same day we registered was not going to work in our favor. This means we missed the Legend of Korra panel and the Firefly Reunion :(

Placment in line for Ballroom 20 at 7:45am

Placement in line for Ballroom 20 at 1:00pm

I could literally see the entrance to Ballroom 20, but I didn't make it in for the Firefly Reunion that started at 12:45, and by that point the Legend of Korra panel was already over. I take solace in remembering that:
1) I made it to two panels featuring the Legend of Korra crew last year, plus I made it to the signing and walked off with a sweet autographed poster and free Korra t-shirt

2) I made it into the Joss Whedon signing at Dark Horse last year at Comic-Con

and 3) I saw Adam Baldwin and Nathan Fillion at the March Thrilling Adventure Hour.

The 5 hours spent in line were not so bad, the people I was around were really nice and made the time pass much more quickly. Given the overall outcome of the day, of course I would have preferred to have a more productive morning, but I am still glad we tried. Now we know for next year.

After some brief time fighting crowds in the exhibit hall, we went to the lovely Seaport Village for lunch. It was a nice break from the crazy crowds at the convention center, Seaport Village is so adorable! There was a live band playing mariachi music as we partook in some delicious Italian food by the water. Very picturesque, and yet I seem to have forgotten to capture the moment on photo.

Back to the Convention Center! I was determined to have success with panels in the second half of the day, so I opted to hang out in the lower numbered ballrooms that don't have the same crowd issues, while my brother and friends decided to pass the remaining time searching for comics in the exhibit hall.

I managed to see the Falling Skies panel, moderated by Wil Wheaton in 6BCF

I don't watch the show, but I have been interested in it and thought checking out a panel would help me decide if it is worth my investment. The conclusion: I definitely want to check this show out.

After that I got to 6DE early for a the Defiance panel, and ended up catching the better part of the Get Jiro panel, the food graphic novel written by Anthony Bourdain.

I'm always looking for recommendations on new graphic novels, so this was perfect. Not to mention, it is number one on the New York Times Hardcover Graphic Books List.

I actually had mixed feelings about going to see Defiance because I am still bitter at Syfy for cancelling Eureka and I fully blame the exuberant Defiance budget on Eureka's death. Incidentally, I am looking for a new Syfy show to fill my Eureka void and the concept of Defiance, a TV Show and Video Game, is interesting. So, to Defiance I went.

The show does sound interesting, it had a sort of futuristic/western feel to it that reminded me of Firefly. It also stars two of Dexter's ex-ladies, and a familiar face is always a plus when determining whether or not to like a new show. Normally, seeing Jamie Murray who played Lila would fill me with contempt because Dexter cheated on Rita with her; however, seeing Julie Benz and her banter on the panel like BFFs made me happy.

Thus ends my Friday the 13th at Comic-Con

For more pictures check out my g+ gallery and for notes from the panels, check out my twitter feed.