Things We Learned from SDCC About Upcoming Year in TV

There are essentially two purposes to sending panels to Comic Con: (1) Reward the fans for their dedication and (2) Get fans excited about an upcoming movie or TV season. It's not hard to do #1. Essentially, all you have to do is show up and bring most of your cast. This is usually the primary goal for TV series that are less popular by ratings but have a very strong core following (think Supernatural, Fringe, Community, etc.). Movie panels tend to fall into the second purpose because fans are just being introduced to the new films coming out this year (exception being squeals like The Hobbit or Iron Man 3).

As much as I love watching the big movie stars and directors as they explain their up coming films, my schedule this year was all about the TV series.

Here is what we learned from the panels:

Community:

• Even with the new show-runners for Community, they promise to maintain the quirky "gem" that all the fans love.
• Nick Kroll and his German bullies may come back.
• There will be an Inspector Spacetime convention episode on the show.

Firefly:

• Obviously, there is no new information about an upcoming season. But it was a nice reunion, nevertheless.
• Jayne's famous hat was all Adam Baldwin's idea. It was knitted by on of the crew members and he begged the director to let him wear it the entire episode. Baldwin called it a "cake within in a wasteland."
• There will continue to be comics made about Firefly. Probably not a webseries, but the cast seemed like like the idea of a radio show.
• Summer Glau was very weird on the panel. I'm not sure if it was because she was super emotional or just because it was such a male-dominated panel. She was asked one question and LITERALLY answered it in two words. That was it for the entire hour.
• Nathan Fillion could not stop wiping tears. I could not tell how genuine the crying was, but people around me seemed to believe it.

Bones:

• The two main cast are significantly boring when they aren't scripted.
• Davis Boreanaz is as unlikable as you'd expect.
• Bones and Booth are as different in real life as they are on the show. So, I guess good casting on their part.
• New season will be gin 3 months after Bones went on the run.
• It won't take too long to find Bones (1-2 episodes) because you can't have the show without your main star.
• Booth is going to be seriously mad at Bones for taking his child and running, but he will start to understand why she had to do what she did.
• The villain will remain in the picture for at least the entirity of this coming season... and he will remain one step ahead of the Smithsonian team.

Fringe:

• This will be the last season of Fringe. The right half of the panel could not stop crying.
• The show has [in theory] ended the alternate universe storyline, so each character is again only playing one role.
• We will learn why there are no female observers.
• We will learn more about Astrik's background, but probably not as much as you hope to learn.

Supernatural:

• If Sam can get out of Hell, Dean will make it out of Purgatory.
• Casteil does come back, though the question of WHEN was never answered.
• The new season will not be as mythology heavy as previous seasons (4 and 5) have been.
• The characters now will be more proactive in this season, instead of just reacting to what is happening to them. They have to decide where to go from here.
• This season will be the first where Sam and Dean are truly at odds with Licifer, where they are both after the same thing. In the past, it has (conveniently) worked out that they did not really get in each other's way. This will change.
• Bobby Singer will probably be back this season...because anything can happen.

Doctor Who:

• Upcoming season is going to be epic
• Ponds will have the first 5 episodes before they are written off.
• The Pond exit will most likely involve the Angels (this was not said outright, but Matt Smith seemed to have let that slip).
• There will be dinosaurs...on a spaceship
• First episode will have a western flavor to it.
• Rupert Graves (Sherlock) guest stars in S7 Ep. 1.
• Mark Williams (Harry Potter) also guest stars in S7 Ep. 1 as Rory's dad.
• The Doctor does a really funny Western impression bit as he walks into a bar and almost chokes on a toothpick.
• Steven Moffat knows the Doctor's real name (it has been passed down to him through previous show runners). He also knows why it can never be said and refuses to even tell Matt.
• There MAY be an episode with multiple Doctors. I don't think Moffat gave a straight answer to this question but I'm thinking 50 year anniversary episode?

Here is what we learned from the Floor:

• New show on ABC called "The Neighbors" is probably one you'll want to skip. It's about a family that moves into a neighborhood of aliens. The aliens are weird. They are green and slimmy, but they are disguised as human beings. They take on names of famous Human Beings like "Lebron James." They cry green ooze from their ears and like to bring apple pies to the neighbors. The show seems like a comedy, at this point. Though there was a hint of danger if the aliens are provoked.
• New show Arrow on CW seems promising. Comic Con screened the pilot a couple times and I heard it went over well with audiences. Imagine a Smallville version of The Green Arrow.
• Beauty and the Beast probably did themselves more harm than good by previewing at Comic Con. I heard nothing but negative things from those who went to the panel and no one walked out planning to see the show. Some people did not even bother to go collect the free item the show was giving away (attendees live for freebees, so you know that is a bad sign). A common complaint was the casting, unfortunately.
• Psych will have a two-hour musical episode. Probably going to be amazing.
• I did not actually go to the Merlin panel because it conflicted with Doctor Who. But I did get a chance to chat with Katie McGrath and Colin Morgan at a signing. Here is what I learned: Good news for Merlin fans! This coming season is not necessarily the final season for Merlin. Last year's panel told us they had made a 5 year plan for Merlin. Katie explained that this does not mean they will just have 5 seasons. She could not say too much, but the producers may have elaborated more at the panel.