Comic-Con Fans Pay Tribute to "Battlestar Galactica" Cast - Plus "Heroes," "Smallville," "Supernatural" and "Torchwood" at Comic-Con

There is no denying it ComicCon has become the place to break news and make news about broadcast and cable programming Here39s a download including news on the Battlestar Galactica finale and the thunderous ovation fans gave the cast at their ComicCon sessionHeroesNBC really made clear the importance of ComicCon on Saturday when during a session for Season 3 of Heroes it screened the first half of the show39s twohour season premiere in the giantsized Hall H at the San Diego Convention Center I39m told the hall has 6500 seats meaning it holds more people than Radio City Music Hall and almost everyone in the room instantly spread word about what they had seen via text Twitter or social network For Heroes spoilers go hereFrom their homes across the country members of the Television Critics Association began buzzing in outrage TCA had ended its Summer 2008 tour with a day devoted to NBC programming just five days before the Heroes megaevent at ComicCon and had not been offered so much as a clip Surely NBC was aware of the fireworks near the end of the Summer 2007 tour when ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson was attacked onstage for allowing the producers of Lost to break news about their show that very same day at ComicCon The two events overlapped last year As it happened the quotbig newsquot that day was that Harold Perrineau the actor who portrayed Michael would be returning to the show this past season after being off it for one year In hindsight Big dealLast year39s Lost reveal was chump change compared to NBC39s dramatic Heroes stunt this weekend at the Con Certainly I get why NBC wanted to create a sensation here There is no better place to start a tsunami of support for a show especially a geek fave like Heroes But I don39t think it would have taken the edge off the Con job had NBC screened the same hour for 200plus critics on closedcircuit a few days earlier at the Beverly Hilton HotelDoctor Who and TorchwoodThere were many other newsmaking sneakpeaks and previews throughout the Con On the opening morning BBC America presented a firstlook at this year39s eagerly anticipated Doctor Who Christmas special featuring the return of the Cybermen And in the session that followed the network announced that it had picked up domestic rights for Season 3 of the sexually supercharged sciencefiction adventure Torchwood a spinoff of Doctor Who How sexy is Torchwood you ask As they took the stage series leads John Barrowman Gareth DavidLloyd and Naoko Mori made clear that anything goes on that show The thousands of fans in attendance went wildBBCA will run Season 3 next spring debuting episodes shortly after they premiere in the UK The deal Con attendees were told was completed only that morningDetails of Torchwood39s third season were also revealed Apparently it will be one big story told over five episodes quotThe Torchwood team has never been in this much jeopardyquot executive producer Julie Gardner teased quotVery bad things happenquotquotI was shocked by itquot added Barrowman quotIt leaves you wanting morequotSmallvilleDuring a cocktail party on the second floor of Warner Bros massive ComicCon display space Justin Hartley told me that he was returning to Smallville this fall as quota series regularquot and that he would be in the opening credits of the show Fans heard all about plans for Hartley39s character the Green Arrow at the show39s session the following morning They were also informed that a host of DC Comics characters that have appeared on the series in the past including Aquaman Black Canary and Martian Manhunter would be returning and that the Legion of SuperHeroes would be introducedSupernaturalThe Supernatural session that followed the one for Smallville was sensational The thousands of fans around me screamed in delight when producer Eric Kripke presented the first five minutes from the Season 4 premiere Supernatural spoiler alert Dean returns after spending four months in hell digs his way out of his own grave and wanders around in the middle of nowhere He breaks into a small general store helps himself to food water and a skin mag and is then attacked by a mysterious forcequotThe danger for Dean and his brother Sam gets worse next seasonquot Kripke said quotThere will be times when Dean looks back fondly at his time in hellquotThe spirited session featuring series leads Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki was interrupted by the Ghost Facers the three reality show geeks from what may have been the most memorable episode of Season 3 Kripke announced that the Ghost Facers would be appearing quotin a shortform alternative media spinoffquotKripke also said that Mitch Pileggi Skinner on The XFiles would be seen on the show this season as Dean and Sam39s grandfatherGhost Hunters InternationalSci Fi Channel announced that it was picking up a second season of Ghost Hunters International which thrilled the audience in the packed ballroom at the presentation for that franchiseBattlestar GalacticaThe one bit of huge news that was not made at ComicCon was the identity of the final Cylon on Battlestar Galactica which will be revealed at the end of the series39 run next yearWhen one person in the audience begged BSG executive producers David Eick and Ronald D Moore to quotgive us a clue who the final Cylon is just a cluequot hundreds of fans in the room screamed quotNoquot Mercifully not everyone finds the television viewing experience enhanced by spoilersBSG star Jamie Bamber said quotThe ending is an ending It is utterly sublime It39s the perfect way to end the show It does everyone and everything justicequotSince this would likely be the BSG cast39s final appearance at ComicCon the crowd gave them a thunderous and oddly moving standing ovation at the end of the sessionKnight RiderWith Knight Rider star Justin Bruening and executive producer Gary Scott Thompson standing by NBC unveiled the all new Attack KITT over by the Tin Fish Cafamp233 directly across the street from the Convention Center Attack KITT Thompson cautioned should not be confused with Pursuit KITTDr Horrible39s SingAlong Blog and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8Joss Whedon made some news too At a packedtotherafters session for Dr Horrible39s SingAlong Blog during which Felicia Day was caught Twittering under the table at which the panelists were seated Whedon and company said there were plans for a fourth installment Earlier this month the first three parts debuted onlineWhedon is now the undisputed King of ComicCon with three genre TV sensations behind him Buffy the Vampire Slayer Angel and Firefly and one to come Dollhouse which had a Con session of its own not to mention a feature film Serenity an online hit Dr Horrible and a host of comic books including Fray and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 That allowed him to make Con news in more than one area During the Dr Horrible session Whedon announced that Oz the Werewolf would be returning to the Buffyverse in the Season 8 comic bookAppropriately ComicCon closed on Sunday with a singalongtalk back screening of Once More With Feeling the legendary musical episode of Buffy

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Comic-Con Fans Pay Tribute to "Battlestar Galactica" Cast - Plus "Heroes," "Smallville," "Supernatural" and "Torchwood" at Comic-Con

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Comic-Con Fans Pay Tribute to "Battlestar Galactica" Cast - Plus "Heroes," "Smallville," "Supernatural" and "Torchwood" at Comic-Con

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"About That with Carl Mayer:" Alaina Donnellon (Episode 10: Political Spending) - By Carl Mayer

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