Of all the pilots aired at Comic-Con

As Comic-Con winds down to a close each year, it is always interesting to realize what people are talking about most. This year there were two pilots aired during Comic-Con that I consistently heard people saying good things about. One I did not have a chance to see, Arrow. One woman from Australia very coyly told me, "there's this thing with his father... oh I hope they do something with it, because it looks like it could just be so..." then she glanced around as if some one might over hear us, "interesting!" I admit it, as curious as I already was, tidbits and rumors like that moved it up my list of I want to see this when it comes on.

I don't read the comic book it is based on, or perhaps I should say inspired by, but as often as not, that is a positive as much as a negative. I imagine they'll change as many things as they keep... and I am now chomping at the bit to find out just what it is they might be doing with his father.

The other TV pilot that had people talking, and me right there among them, was Cult. We'll have to wait until mid-season, which is always hard. There are times when I wish Comic-Con were more than once a year, as I know those who come see this as their one chance for the next 11 months and 3 weeks to show us anything and everything they want us to see, so sometimes we see things so very very far ahead it makes the mind spin. But the rest of me knows Comic-Con is such a sensory overload I can't imagine many of us would survive it two or four times a year.

When the other pilots I saw air, I'll tune in, The Following, 666 Park Avenue, and Revolution all appear well worth giving a chance. And hopefully, next year, I'll be attending a panel for a second season of more than one of the shows I've discovered thanks to the 2012 Comic-Con International in San Diego.

666 Park Avenue

Over the past few years I have found myself wishing the SyFy channel was heavier on Science Fiction and lighter on Horror. I have even wondered at times if the line between the two genres is blurrier in the minds of some than it is for me.
During the airing of the pilot for 666 Park Avenue was the first time I found myself thinking a similar series of thoughts of fantasy. I wanted it to be more mystical and magical. More fantastical and less... bloody. I do not know if I was hoping for too much, but the premise seemed to lend itself to so many fantastic possibilities within this apartment building at 666 Park Avenue that is owned and run by a couple portrayed by Terry O'Quinn (Lost, and more recently recurring on Hawaii 5-0) and Vanessa Williams (Desperate Housewives) that I wanted the writers to grasp hold of those possibilities and play with them. It seemed there was gratuitous gore and unnecessary violence and bloodshed when mystical magical possibilities lay just around the proverbial corner that could have fulfilled the same role in the story without making me wince and want to cover my eyes, or worse, groan and mutter "really"? Not that my aversion to such things should dissuade those made of sterner stuff, I simply wonder why when so many possibilities existed, and when the premise seemed tailor made to both explore and exploit them, the show instead took what almost seemed an easier out instead. That said, I was intrigued, and curious... and after the pilot had finished playing, and the cast came out, was positively laughing my head off when an audience member, in an effort to be polite, and not offend, and perhaps even be politically correct, tried to phrase a question so they did not ask Terry O'Quinn if he would be playing the Devil in the show, and in the process accidentally came across as asking if Terry O'Quinn would, instead, be playing God. The answer was delightful and charming as Terry O'Quinn demured, saying no, he would be playing someone who worked for that other fellow, you know, the one who converses with the man up stairs on a regular basis. That sense of humor, aplomb, and charm was typical of the panel, and made it a delight to attend.

The panel ended with the moderator asking everyone in the audience to sing Happy Birthday to Terry O'Quinn, who was then handed a birthday card. After reading it he quipped, "You know, I actually have my deal with the devil. I'm actually going to be 127. This is my first Comic-Con, I missed you all during Lost, but I'm glad we all got to catch up now." Just another example of the class act this entire cast/panel presented to those in attendance.





As with all wb panels, check the wb website for video of this panel