When the San Diego Comic-Con opened its doors to allow every corner of television onto their floors, they weren't kidding. After seeing the roster of panels, I'm surprised the original panel from PBS's Washington Week didn't field questions from guys dressed in Transformer cosplay.

Apparently, Warner Brothers set up a panel for just about every television show that have in development including Patricia Heaton's new ABC sitcom The Middle, making it the most "fish out of water" selection for a panel at the geek confab.

And so did the geeks in attendance. The panel only drew around 75 attendees and studio heads ordered Heaton not to introduce the panel because the crowd was too small.

I imagine a lot of stalkers must love a place like Comic-Con. All of their most sought after celebrities are together in one place for easy pickings. It must be their Costco.

One star, however, decided to turn the tables on his fans and used his own costume to stalk and hunt down a few of his fans on the floor of this year's convention.

To make it even creepier, he dressed up like a clown. That slurping sound you hear is my spine falling out of its socket from uncontrollable shivering.

There's still plenty of Comic-Con International coverage en route from me, including exclusive interviews you'll only find here.

But, as the Monday morning after the madness dawns, we'll take a few minutes and review the major impressions left by the four day weekend.

What happened? What were the biggest themes of the convention and what didn't happen that everyone was hoping would. In other words, what was Comic-Con 2009, and where did it fall short?

When I looked at the panel schedule for Comic-Con International, I asked myself, "What's Ghost Whisperer doing on there? Really? Ghost Whisperer?"

I have nothing against the show, and I guess it has supernatural elements that put it in enough of a genre category to qualify for Comic-Con treatment. But I thought it was just an uber-sensitive, feminine product.

Then again, when you consider how Twilight dominated this convention, "chick stuff" ruled the day. There's no reason why Ghost Whisperer can't have its moment, too.

So, creators took the chance to announce two product tie-ins coming for Whisperer fans.

The Venture Brothers have all the trappings of a major, cross-media animated comedy phenomena -- except the popularity and notoriety that comes with it.

Written on the same brilliant scale as The Simpsons or South Park and drenched in hip pop culture references, Venture Brothers remains a show with a devoted cult following that stays just off the mass media's radar. And series creators Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer aren't sure why.

"We didn't even get nominated for an Annie (animation) Award," Hammer told me. "Never mind an Emmy. We thought we could at least get an Annie. We can't explain it. You probably have a better idea of why that is than we do."

A new gallery is up and running featuring some of the fun sites of Saturday -- the busiest day of Comic-Con.

Have a look and share the vicarious convention experience here.













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Showtime's Dexter came to Comic-Con International this year and brought along an ad campaign that would be consdiered in poor "taste" anywhere but in this four-day epicenter of debauchery.

As the Comic-Con premiere trailer shows, the fourth season of Dexter unveils the deadly title character's new arrival, a baby boy (Harrison). The kid is obviously cute (right), and he plays well off of the simmering sinister visage of his fictional fathr.

The little prince is featured in a massive ad campaign throughout downtown San Diego ads, inside the convention center, on buses and cabs, etc.

Sunday will bring Comic-Con International to a close. And, folks like me who have been working the convention since Wednesday are feeling a lot like The Prisoner's poor, run-down Rover (right).

Saturday is usually the busiest at Comic-Con International -- the day when crowds hit their peak. It was certainly the busiest day so far for me on the convention beat.

In an eight-hour period, I piled up several exclusive, one-on-one interviews for TV Squad. They're set to run soon as Comic-Con winds down for 2009.

While Wedneday brought the rumor that 2010 Comic-Con International's Preview Night would move up from Wednesday to Tuesday here in San Diego, today comes the rumor that the convention might be leaving San Diego altogether.

Word is going around that the popular entertainment world will descend on Los Angeles next year, leaving the San Diego Convention Center behind.

It's not the first time this possibility has been raised, but the sheer and ever-growing size of the convention is making it look more likely.

Even though TV Squad's very own John Scott Lewinski is fighting his way through hordes of overweight Rorschachs and pre-pubescent Chun Lis to get exclusive interviews and scoops on the newest TV news at the San Diego Comic Con, don't forget that our partners-in-crime from Cinematical are also there covering the latest flim-flam in film.

The movie side of the annual pop-culture cavalcade opened with one of the biggest names in the history of film and what could very well be one of the biggest names in the future of film. Director James Cameron screened a solid 25 minutes of his forthcoming sci-fi epic Avatar. Blogger Todd Gilchrist got a hint of the plot and special effects movie-goers can expect when the film hits theaters later this year and said it "promises to be both hugely entertaining and technically groundbreaking." Man, that's got me worried. That's what they also said about Titanic.

Just a quick note here to announce a new gallery we posted showing the random sights of 2009's Comic-Con International.

Check it out and enjoy some shots I took while on the run from event to event -- like the perfect Mystery Science Theater 3000 Torgo (right) from the Rifftrax panel.

You can check out the gallery here:


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The folks at our sister site Cinematical are working hard to give you news and reviews of the best -- and worst -- the silver screen has to offer. Here are some of their musings on the latest blockbusters, indies, and everything in between:

• The last thing in the world I need is more tiny crap to fall into my purse's black, gaping maw, so the idea of movies on USB drives doesn't really appeal to me, but I can see how some people may be into it.
• I've seen several trailers for G-Force, and it looks like a completely awful kids' movie, but the cast is amazing. Zack Galifianakis, Tracy Morgan, and Will Arnett? I don't understand what is going on here at all. See if you can make some sense of it with Cinematical's review of G-Force.
• Hot Tub Time Machine: "It could very well be the most awesomest hot tub time machine-related film ever made in the history of hot tub time machine films." I don't even know what to say about this. You can check out the teaser on Cinematical.
• I still don't really understand the appeal of sparkly vampires (I'm more of a zombie girl, myself), but in case it's your bag, you can check out the highlights of the New Moon panel at San Diego Comic Con.
• Oh my God, I totally agree with #1 on the Cinematical Seven: Creepy Kids on Film. The Bad Seed is horrifying.

To celebrate the release of the second season of the original Star Trek on Blu-ray, Paramount will be handing out free Tribbles at the San Diego Comic Con. Not only that, but they are asking people to upload digital photos of them and their Tribbles in unusual circumstances.

This might not be the best of ideas. All it takes is one wise-ass uploading a Tribble while in a compromising situation involving leather, chains and whipped cream to ruin it for everyone else.

Maybe Fox's decision not to air "Epitaph One," the final episode of Dollhouse's first season, was a good one. Good for Fox, I mean.

The unaired ep, which will show up on the first season DVD/Bu-ray sets and screen at Comic-Con, is bringing a lot of attention to the Joss Whedon show this summer. Judging by the reaction to a clip released earlier this week, I'm sure Fox won't have any trouble moving those DVDs.

The clip, our first bit of WhedonCrack in months, featured a dazed and confused Dr. Saunders/Whiskey surrounded by a group of armed rebels in what appears to be the future. Is it a dream? Is it a flash forward? We'll have to wait for the DVD to drop July 28 to find out.

It seems like everyone has an opinion about whether or not Dollhouse will survive its second season on Fox. Our own Brad Trechak is certain the show will be dead before the end of the year. Io9 has a more hopeful prognosis for the show's future. They say we might even be in for a surprisingly stable year for the show.

I'm not willing to go that far, but I'm hopeful that season two of Dollhouse will deliver more of the quirky and engaging storytelling Joss Whedon fans have come to love and expect instead of the dull "case of the week" plots that almost sunk season one. Last May's weird and wonderful game-changing season finale only left me wanting more -- more mythology, more mystery and more witty and subversive dialogue. Whedon is writing and directing the season two opener, now set to premiere Sept. 25. Hopefully, that means he's setting the tone for a more imaginative and interesting season of Dollhouse.