Comic-Con: Paramount Pictures Panel Report

Alright, kids. The Paramount panel. This is what Comic-Con is all about - big, marketing juggernauts produced by massive corporations. I'm sure a handful of indie comic producers turn in their graves at the thought of what Comic-Con has become, but you can't deny that it's all about the passion. There's something beautiful and deeply sincere about true fans connecting with the creators of their obsessions. The love of good storytelling and making life more bearable through sharing in an aesthetic experience can't be besmirched by even the crassest of capitalist gestures, and there's free stuff. Nothing wrong with that.

The Paramount panel was loaded with tidbits - mostly for the film, not TV, buff. (You can check out TV Squad and Cinematical scribe Kevin Kelly's live blog from this afternoon's event here.) However, some of our TV friends have made the jump to the big screen - SNL's Andy Samberg, Alias and Lost creator J.J. Abrams and Heroes' Zachary Quinto.

Personally, all this TV-related news was overshadowed by the fact Karen Allen is back as Marion "I'm your goddamn partner" Ravenwood for the fourth Indiana Jones movie, but what can you do?

Here's what you need to know, TV fans, about Paramount's latest offerings:

- J.J. Abrams unveiled the Cloverfield/Monstrous/1.18.08/Big-Freaking-Monster-Tiny-Statue-of-Liberty-Head movie poster. He told a story about being in Japan with his kid and how badly he wanted America to have its own Godzilla. He scoffed at the idea of calling the movie Monstrous and ran off the stage with zero fanfare. I guess he had some place to be... like right back in the same hall twenty minutes later to talk Star Trek casting. Say what you will about the guy, but he's perfected the Comic-Con tease.

- Hey, it's J.J. Abrams again. This time he wanted us all to meet Sylar. I mean, Zachary Quinto, the new Spock, but wait, there's a surprise. Leonard Nimoy will also be in the film as Spock. Old Spock. New Spock. Could this mean other Star Trek television cast members could be back? Given Abram's affection for flashbacks, flash-forwards and all other means of time-melding, quite possibly. Nothing else was revealed about the film except, again, a teaser poster.

- SNL's Andy Samberg was in the house to promote his new film Hot Rod, directed by Lonely Island compatriot and "Dick in a Box" director Akiva Schaffer. They were joined on stage by the third Lonely Island member Jorma Taccone. The threesome generally brought the funny and explained that their inspiration for "Dick in a Box" involved a game Akiva used to play with his grandma. "Granny boners." (They were kidding.) The guys haven't had time to return to their online series The 'Bu, and their Fox pilot Awesome Town appears to be stalled, if not fully thwarted, so it's either SNL or Hot Rod for the time being if you want your Samberg fill.

You can keep up with the latest and greatest of Comic-Con's TV-related breaking news by following our Twitter feed. I'll be posting images at our Flickr stream.