nbc at comic-con

Zachary Levi and Josh Gomez (Chuck) interview Greg Grunberg and Tim Kring (Heroes). Funnier than any of the panels I've seen.

Chuck panel, as moderated by E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos. She does an extremely good job, by the way, and I'm convinced that Zachary Levi should be my friend. Kristin lets it slip that there's a same-sex kiss between two characters, presumably Chuck and Casey. That's right, Adam Baldwin is on the panel (he gets some Firefly love from the fans) and he talks about his soft lips, which counters the masculinity pills he's apparently been popping. Ellie and Captain Awesome are also present. They're a good group, probably because they're a relatively new show and aren't sick of each other, but each actor brings the funny. The best fan question: If your character had to die, how would you want them to die?

The Office panel, as moderated by Rainn Wilson. Surprisingly unfunny. They seemed kind of tired, but it's nice to know that B.J. Novak isn't a "d-bag" like his alter-ego, Ryan.

Lessons from Greg Grunberg. Why is he so funny? "Greg is my wife's hero."

Truth be told, as jealous as I am of those who went to Comic-Con, I'm more jealous of seeing other fans dress up and geek out than the actual panels. I've been skipping forward through the panels; hearing actors talk about themselves isn't interesting, and writers are so selfless (shy?) that they don't want to talk about how great their shows are or they want to pass off the credit to the actors, which in some instances may be true, but come on. How much do we really learn from the panels about the characters or the writing process or the production? Not a whole lot. People just want trailers and to be starstruck. But the pictures on some film blogs have been the most jealousy-inducing aspect. I've never dressed up for anything fan-related, and I don't really think I'm the type, but there's a wonderful excitement in that kind of escapism. Fan conventions are inherently fun for the fans. Perhaps next year.