Surviving the Thrills and Insanity of COMIC CON 2012

Well, I survived yet another Comic Con!

As usual (at least over the past 11 years anyway) I traveled to San Diego for the annual Comic Con that was held last week, getting back to Los Angeles on Sunday night. Over the course of the of those five days, I – along with over 130,000 other nerds, pop culture fans and geeks alike – swarmed the San Diego Convention Center for a multitude of panels, celebrity appearances, film festivals and, oh, so much more.

Wednesday started out first with most of the NiceGirlsTV (who were attending the con, that is) getting together for a much needed team meeting before heading down to the convention center to get registered. Once that task was completed, we all spread out to conquer the Exhibit Hall and whatever was on our agendas for that night. The Exhibit Hall, for those who don’t know, is a football-sized “room” where all of the participating studios, memorabilia and comic book vendors set up shop, artists and fan groups set up their tables to show off their wares and celebrate their favorite show and so much more in advance of the first official day of the convention. It is also during this night that special advanced airings of various new shows are screened. This year’s spotlights were shone on the Warner Bros. series 666 Park Avenue, Arrow, The Following, Revolution and Cult. I am glad to say I was able to see all but 666 Park Avenue that night as I hit up the Exhibit Hall for about an hour once the doors to that cavernous room were opened to the mass horde of attendees.

The first panel I attended on Thursday was entitled “Books and Hollywood: Literary Franchises in Television and Film” that featured a number of great authors, talking about their works. That was followed up by panels for the following: the popular USA Network series Psych that featured the entire cast and Timothy Omundsen as moderator, the new CW series Beauty and the Beast that included a screening of the pilot and Nikita that included the main cast members, who were just a hoot to watch in action, as they are so funny in person.

Then on Friday my day started out early as the 10th anniversary of Firefly was on tap for that day and the convention center was packed to the rafters with fans wanting to get in the room. Fortunately, I (and my friends) made it inside for what turned out to be a wonderful, emotion-packed panel that included cast members Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, Adam Baldwin, Summer Glau and Sean Maher as well as creative minds Jose Molina, Tim Minear and the geek God himself Joss Whedon.

While it was a hard act to follow the rest of the day was dedicated to the following: a panel for the new CW series Arrow, which featured a screening of the pilot and a great panel hosted by Entertainment Weekly entitled “Powerful Women in Pop Culture (aka Women Who Kick Ass)”. Later that day I sat in on a panel that introduced the new series Defiance – that will not only be a TV series on Syfy next April but also a video game. The series stars Julie Benz, Tony Curran, Grant Bowler, Mia Kirshner, Stephanie Leonidas and Graham Greene. The night was then capped off with a panel for the Showtime action series Strike Back.

As usual, Saturday was the BIG day of the convention. This is typically the one day out of the entire convention that sees the largest amount of attendees converging on the convention center; and features THE panels you really want to be in all “week”. For me, the day started off with panels for the popular Syfy series Warehouse 13 that was immediately followed by a panel for the new ABC fairytale drama Once Upon a Time.

After those two panels, it was a race against time to get into a panel featuring Bryan Fuller, the man behind Pushing Daisies and Dead Like Me, who was at the convention to talk about his two new big projects on NBC: Hannibal and Mockingbird Lane (his reboot of the classic 1960’s comedy The Munsters). From there I was also to participate in a panel for the new NBC fairytale drama Grimm, which featured the entire cast as well as a great video recap of the entire first season and a 15 minute sneak peek at the season premiere.

The rest of Saturday afternoon and evening were dedicated to the following: a panel for the new FOX drama The Following – that will star James Purefoy and Kevin Bacon – that included a screening of the pilot that will air in mid-season; a panel for the popular new CBS drama Person of Interest – that featured the entire cast; a panel for the new J.J. Abrams/Eric Kripke NBC drama Revolution that included a screening of the pilot and, last but certainly not least, a panel for the popular Canadian series Lost Girl (which airs on Syfy here in the states) that featured cast members Anna Silk, Ksenia Solo and Kris Holden-Ried.

Closing off the big event was, of course, Sunday, which, for once, was a calm day for me with only one Comic Con panel: “What’s Hot in Young Adult Fiction” followed by attending a Visit with Jared Padalecki (the star of The CW series Supernatural) at the Second Annual Nerd HQ, which is an off-shut convention coordinated by The Nerd Machine, which was created by Chuck alum Zachary Levi. That was a terrific experience, attending with two good friends and getting front row seats. There was no better way to close out the big event than this!

Needless to say, Comic Con 2012 went by quickly – almost too quickly (like always) – and provided all of the attendees with a boatload of fun, lots of sore muscles, sleepless nights and more intel on pop culture than we know what to do with; but it was SO worth it. You will see lots of reports here on NiceGirlsTV over the next few days on all our activities during the convention. And, we hope to see you there next year!

Musician’s Spotlight: This month’s musician spotlight is on Radiohead, the English alternative rock band that was formed in 1985, consisting of members Thom Yorke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar and piano), Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar and keyboard), Ed O’Brien (guitar and backing vocals), Colin Greenwood (bass guitar and synthesizer) and Phil Selway (drums and percussion).

The band released their debut album “Pablo Honey” in 1993, which featured the single “Creep”. The band’s popularity rose in the UK with the release of their sophomore album “The Bends” in 1995. But, it was their third album “Ok Computer” – released in 1997 – that propelled them onto the international stage. This album also went on to be considered one of the landmark albums of the 1990’s. Radiohead’s next two albums “Kid A” released in 2000 and “Amnesiac” in 2001 showcased the band’s evolution in musical style, incorporating electronic music, post-punk and even jazz influences.

Their album “Hail to the Thief” – the band’s last album done under a major record label (EMI) – was released in 2003 and featured the single “There, There (Boney King)”. The single reached number four on the UK singles charts and number one in Canada. It received moderate airplay in the United States and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance, making it the band’s most successful single since 2000. This album has sold more than 25 million copies.

The band released their first independent album called “In Rainbows” in 2007 first as a digital download and later as an actual release. In 2009, they won a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album and last year they released their 8th album “The King of Limbs”.

For more information, visit Radiohead’s website here.