ComicCon Countdown: Who’s coming?
To use a well-worn phrase…Good News, Everyone! Your friends over here at TV are heading on out to San Diego during the last week in July to cover one of the bigger, if not biggest, comic book and science fiction conventions on mainland America and the world. I speak, of course, of ComicCon.
From July 24th through July 27th you’ll see us with our TV T-Shirts (and underwear — viewings of those by appointment) as we join the rest of the throngs attending the convention. At some point we may even be doing a bit of Twittering to find out where you are at the convention so you can find us in order to shake our hands (or, in the case of some of our commenters, punch and kick us) and potentially get some free stuff as well.
Now, some of you may be saying ’While I’d love to meet you at ComicCon to tell you how I really feel about you and your site, why are you going to a comic book and science fiction convention?’ Well, truth be told, ComicCon is more than just a comic book and science fiction convention these days. Fact is, aside from The Television Critics Association press tour that takes place in Los Angeles the week before, ComicCon has become one of the premiere television events of the summer.
Shows like Battlestar Galactica, Lost, Stargate Atlantis and Heroes are not the only ones making appearances at the convention. This year there are some shows that don’t really fit the science fiction or comic book genres. Shows like Chuck, Bones, The Big Bang Theory and, most unusually, The Office. Why the change? According to an article at TVWeek, the convention is moving away from its sci fi roots.
Studios are bringing these shows to the convention not because they use any hi-tech gadgetry or say “frack” a lot. They are coming because these shows have strong fan and cult followings. Bones is one example of this. It has such as devoted fan community that viewers were calling for the heads of the show’s producers after the season finale. Prison Break, Chuck, and 24 also have their huge fan followings as well, which make them a perfect fit for this convention.
One would think at this point that the convention organizers would be upset. On the contrary, they are quite happy about the whole situation. According to David Glanzer, convention director of marketing and public relations, having more television shows at the Con is a good thing. As opposed to movie people that appear at the Con, television people talk and interact more with the fans. They also give more behind-the-scenes information out, which makes the fans very happy.
Having said that, here is a breakdown of some of the shows that will be at the convention:
Warner Brothers: Chuck, Fringe, Pushing Daisies, Smallville, Supernatural, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and The Big Bang Theory
20th Century Television: 24, Bones, Prison Break, Dollhouse, Life on Mars, The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad, and Futurama
Universal Media Studios: Kings, Knight Rider, The Office, Heroes
SciFi: Battlestar Galactica, Eureka, Stargate Atlantis
ABC Studios: Lost, Kyle XY, Ghost Whisperer, Wizard’s First Rule
More on the shows that are appearing and who will be appearing as more items are finalized.
Smallville: Sleeper
(S07E17) In a mild diversion from the main story arc of the season, Jimmy Olsen becomes James Bond. At least he’s a James Bond that makes breakfast.
Of all the characters in the show, the ones who have undergone the most growth is Chloe. It makes sense since the character was created specifically for this series (although it was somewhat as a Lois Lane stand-in).
The episode focused mostly on the Jimmy/Chloe relationship and the impact on their lives because of her various efforts for Clark. Clark himself was featured very little. Lana was nowhere to be seen (which made the episode better). Lionel is dead, but I guess John Glover’s name and likeness are still contracted to appear in the credits. Lex appeared a little, but mostly to further his storyline to what will likely be the climax of the season.
It’s amazing that the writers on this show finally realized that actions have consequences. Given Chloe’s ridiculously great computer skills, I’m amazed the government hasn’t tried to get her before now. Although this is the Smallville universe, where the government is well-funded, sexy and is not afraid to show off its, uh, assets. With all the gadgetry, the lady government agent was Bond, Q and Miss Moneypenny all rolled into one.
It makes sense for Chloe to start working for the Isis Foundation. Lex fired Chloe. The Isis Foundation is run by Lana, who is Lex’s ex-wife. Both hate and distrust Lex. In short, it’s a marvelous employment opportunity for her.
This episode did have its share of technobabble, such as “ionic displacement”. It’s also very Smallville to put a government satellite tracking center in the same building as a hipster dance club.
Another interesting Smallville technology-related question: if you’re going to copy files from a computer, why pop up a window saying so? It’s amusing that Lex has a Dell laptop on his desk. Most television computers are Macs. This is obviously indicative of Lex’s evil nature.
I got another one. If you’re going to use a pawn to accomplish your scheme, why give him a bunch of devices to use against you?
At least the writers were consistent with their James Bond homage by throwing in a dance scene in the middle of the action. All that was missing was a gambling scene where Jimmy lost at first then won later.
Classic book placement seems to be a theme of this season. Clark was hiding the Kryptonian artifact in the book “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”. I’m not sure if that’s supposed to mean anything specific.
The torture scene with Chloe was kind of harsh for a lighter episode. It was a very Abu Ghraib moment. If you want to e-mail Chloe some get-well wishes, the e-mail address for her given on the computer screen during the episode was chloe_sullivan@digitalwave.com. Let me know if you reach her.
It looks like Lex got some sort of Veritas star chart for his effort (admittedly, I thought at first he was getting an empty box). It is kind of a bait-and-switch to show Lex getting to the Fortress in the previews from last week but not show him actually getting there this week.
For all the espionage and intrigue, Jimmy was just worried that Chloe was still carrying a torch for Clark. Given all the weird stuff that happens in Smallville, I just can’t define the relationship between Jimmy and Chloe as “normal.”
Jimmy going to Lex for help in wiping Chloe’s government record is probably going to haunt him in the future. I wonder if the government agent was working for Lex to begin with?
Tonight’s episode was a likable one. It seemed somewhat lighter than the usual Smallville plotlines and was almost comic relief. It’s nice to see both Jimmy and Chloe grow as individuals and in terms of their relationship. Even though next week’s episode revolves around one of the biggest television sci-fi clichés possible (that would be time travel), it should be cute. Judging from the previews, Clark even starts wearing his trademark glasses. That’s assuming the previews show what happens next week and not later.