Sunday at Comic-Con: Wrapping Up...

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Why torture yourself trying to make it into Hall H on Sunday morning when you KNOW there are thousands of Doctor Who fans who have been there since the night before? Well, you might have made a go for it, but I didn't. I kissed Fringe and Supernatural good-bye and slept in until a leisurely 7:30am or so. Then it was time to pack up the place, check-out, and have breakfast at one of the places that has not only been on my list for two years but was also consistently recommended: Richard Walker's Pancake House. The line was 10-15 deep, but we were the only "2" so we waited about four minutes before being escorted to a table. The place was packed tightly but service was quick. I had some delicious banana pancakes, and I'd love to go back - the apple flapjacks require 20 minutes to prepare, and I wasn't going to wait that long this time around.

We ended up hitting the gas lamp park area too early, and tables and giveaways were still being set-up. So, it was back to the floor for a final round, an attempt to see a few more booths, and to make a few purchases. [I'd love to go into detail about the TON of prints we picked up, but almost all were gifts, so I can't go letting the cat out of the bag...] There were still plenty of costumed attendees, and some of the larger areas weren't as crowded, so we were able to get closer to the Iron Man 3 exhibit and the Total Rekall car, for example. I was a bit let-down when I finally made it to the Peanuts booth, but worse things have happened. I figured that Hall H would have a mass exodus after the Doctor Who panel, so we trekked over to get in line for the things after it: The Cleveland Show and Sons of Anarchy. I figured that 12:45pm would be plenty of time to get in line, and it was. However, there were SO MANY PEOPLE who needed to get out of the room after Doctor Who that The Cleveland Show wound up starting more than 30 minutes late! I couldn't believe it! We began watching the people pour out right after the 1:30pm mark, but the line didn't even begin to move until 1:53pm, which began to panic me a little bit, in all honesty. In the end, everything worked out alright, though, and we have a nice couple of panels with which to end the Con.

Nobody seems to know why The Cleveland Show was on Sunday, rather than being bunked with any of the other animated programs that had slots earlier in the weekend. But, it was actually able to put on a pretty good show all by its lonesome, so it worked out. AND, it wasn't even like Seth MacFarlane stole the show! Fellow panelists Mike Henry, Kevin Michael Richardson, Reagan Gomez, and Rich Appel also managed to have some great things to say.

Photo: Jonathan Bredemeyer

Photo: Jonathan Bredemeyer

After a clip we heard the theme song sung live and even an impromptu song about Comic-Con! After that, fan Q&A took over, but we did get a clip at the end that made some GREAT jokes about the music industry, from chanting monks to swing music's three-month-stint in the late 90s to a possible hip-hop Illuminati. Now, back to that Q&A...

Photo: Jonathan Bredemeyer

Photo: Jonathan Bredemeyer

- Seth does not know what AdventureTime or Brickleberry are.
- Cecilia will be back a few times.
- Cleveland and Loretta were going to get back together on Family Guy, but when The Cleveland Show got picked up, they had to change the plans.
- Freight Train writes mystery novels under a pseudonym.
- Junior is meant to be fourteen years old and there is an episode in mind for when he hits puberty.
- as for pre-show inspiration, Rich Appel talks of watching The Simpsons and Family Guy. With 15-16 writers in the room, however, ideas come.

Photo: Jonathan Bredemeyer

- It's too early to tell whether an animated Ted will make an appearance in Stoolbend, but the gag might be irresistible on one of Seth's shows.
- When asked "Star Wars or Star Trek?" Seth answers, "both." He certainly knows how to please a Comic-Con crowd!

The last panel for Hall H was the highly-rated FX series Sons of Anarchy, which brought a ton of talent to the room: Katey Sagal, Charlie Hunnam, Kurt Sutter, Ron Perlman, Maggie Siff, Kim Coates, Mark Boone Junior, Tommy Flanagan, Theo Rossi, Ryan Hurst, and Dayton Callie.

Photo: Jonathan Bredemeyer

Photo: Jonathan Bredemeyer

The show returns on Tuesday, September 11th at 10pm, with guest stars this season including Jimmy Smits, Harold Perrineau, and Ashley Tisdale. We get a seven-minute scene which is partially blacked out due to its graphic nature and Comic-Con's guidelines, and the panel has a little trivia contest to win some swag. Depending on how much you enjoy the show, I might have some disappointing news for ya - the one bit from the Q&A I found interesting was that the cast agreed that Ron Perlman is the worst motorcycle rider among them - he's always falling! Otherwise, I just wasn't digging the panel, and I decided to leave a few minutes early.

Photo: Jonathan Bredemeyer

Photo: Jonathan Bredemeyer

Where did I go? Well, I had been hearing so much about Zachary Levi's Nerd HQ that we really needed to check it out. It was slightly difficult to find (our directions led us to the back door of the place, actually), but still close to everything else. Once again, the line gods were on our side and it was only a few minutes before we were wrist-banded and let inside. Unfortunately, things were winding down, but the place was still packed! We saw plenty of video gaming taking place, worked our way around the line to buy merchandise, and took a quick peek at the stage. Over at Nerd HQ, it seems, they actually empty the place after each event, allowing people with tickets to certain panels to definitely get in. We left just before the ushering began to allow for the closing panel, hosted by Zachary Levi, to take place.

One final stop on our way back to the hotel (and then the car, to make a nine-hour drive) was to see the finished Power Rangers mural that we saw in-progress on Wednesday.

Photo: Amy K. Bredemeyer