Sunday marked the end of my 18-day stint in California, and after almost three weeks spent covering Comic-Con and the Television Critics Association press tour, I'm barely able to form complete sentences, let alone formulate a theory about the Future of Television.

Yet it seems to me that the television, especially in the cable realm, is at something of a crossroads. Formulaic fare such as 'Rizzoli and Isles' and splashy genre shows like 'True Blood' and 'The Walking Dead' have been big hits, and, after the cancellation of shows like 'Terriers' and 'Men of a Certain Age' and the end of 'Friday Night Lights,' it's hard not to wonder whether the golden age of character-driven drama is losing some of its luster. (Speaking of 'Terriers,' I'll get to a bit of news about the creator of that show in a bit.)

I defer to no one in my geek devotion (I managed to turn an interview with 'Terra Nova' executive producer Rene Echavarria into a discussion of a show he worked on ages ago, 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'). But at times lately, I have feared that during the next few years, we are in for an interminable deluge of predictable doctor-lawyer-cop fare and shows featuring wall-to-wall vampires, zombies, aliens and spectral apparations.

About a month ago, our friends at CliqueClack listed five reasons why Diablo Cody's thriller Jennifer's Body should be made into a television series.

They seemed to list some compelling reasons, especially the fact that it would play well with fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. So when Cody was at the TCAs to promote the upcoming season of her Showtime hit United States of Tara, I decided to ask her about the prospect as she got off-stage.

"I had never heard that," she replied. "That would be amazing."

When I asked her if the show would appeal to Buffy fans, she asked, "Did the original Buffy movie do well in the theaters?" When we said it didn't, she shot back in self-deprecating fashion: "This could be the perfect metaphor, then."

The votes were counted and 77.2% of TV Squad readers believed Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory has Asperger's Syndrome. Based on Slate writer Paul Collins' article on the subject and reported by Joel, you were asked your opinion and agreed with Collins.

Well, majority may rule, but the writer is king. Big Bang co-creator Bill Prady knows the character better than we do, and Prady said Sheldon does not have Asperger's.

As usual, I've come back from the TCA press tour with a voice recorder full of great interviews and a brain made of mush. Because of the mush-brain part, I'm sure I'll go back and listen to some of the interviews and find that the ones I thought were full of golden nuggets of wit turn out to be full of nothing but platitudes.

That's okay, though; the tour was a lot of fun and I got to talk to a lot of interesting people. I mean, where else can you talk to Maria from Sesame Street, Alan Alda, Norman Lear, and Patti Smith.... all in the same day? It's amazing who you feel empowered to talk to when you have a press credential around your neck and a voice recorder in your hand.

But I also learned a bunch of other things during the tour, mostly about the upcoming season, but also a few other things as well: