Once again this year, Keith, Michael and I are braving the crowds at San Diego Comic-Con to learn the latest news, get the inside scoop and rub elbows with the stars of some of our favorite shows … and 125,000 of our other closest friends. This is my third year attending, and it is amazing how much the con has grown just in those three years (I can only imagine it from Michael’s perspective, who has been attending long before SDCC became the craziness that it is today).

Keith previewed what he was looking forward to most this year earlier this week. I’d planned on doing the same, but decided to skip my post when I realized that my list was nearly exactly the same as his.

Instead, I’m going to attempt to spend a couple of minutes each night going over the highlights of what I saw and learned during the course of each day. I’m not promising I’ll get it done every night – I can promise you with almost absolute certainty that Saturday Night’s schedule will definitely preclude me from chiming in – but I’ll do what I can.

• Technically from Wednesday night, but I learned that Wil Wheaton can brew a mighty fine tasting brew. The picture above is the three of us catching up. Wil’s Memories of the Future book came up, and I joined his wife Anne in hounding him for the follow-up.
• I attended the screenings of both Intelligence and Star-Crossed in Ballroom 20 (SDCC’s second largest room). I’ve previewed both before, but it was nice to watch with a large audience. Intelligence in particular was well received.
• One of SDCC’s most fervent Fandoms continues to be the Psych-o’s. The cast and crew embraces the culture of the convention about as well as any show factors into that a great deal. USA also announced the winner – “Nightmare on State Street” (formerly named “Dream Therapy”) – of the fan vote for the plot of an episode in the upcoming final season.
• EW’s Visionaries panel is always an interesting discussion, and this year’s panel with Alfonso Cuarón, Marc Webb and Edgar Wright was no exception.
• The Nerdist’s Chris Hardwick is easily the best panel moderator I’ve ever seen. He handled both Divergent and Ender’s Game, and was phenomenal.
• Speaking of Divergent, we got to see the first footage released for the film (principal photography just wrapped a couple of days ago). I’m a big fan of Veronica Roth’s series of books, and if the footage we saw was any indication, the movie series is going to be just as good.
• Veronica Roth, the author of the novels, announced that the third book — Allegiant, due out in October — will actually be told from both Tris and Four’s point-of-views.

• I’m not sure that the highlight of the Ender’s Game panel happened before they even took the stage. An attendee got in line during the Divergent Q&A, and began asking the cast and crew a question about Ender’s Game. Hardwick mocked him pretty badly, but made sure he got the chance to ask the question when the right time came around.
• I became a big fan of director Gavin Hood. He brought a joy and passion to the panel that can almost make me overlook X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
•  I’m lying about the highlight … it had to be Harrison Ford. He handled some of the off-the-wall questions amusingly – though obviously irritated. My favorite? “What would Han Solo and Indiana Jones say to each other if they met?” “Hi? How are you?”

I am looking forward to Day Two. I will be spending time with the casts of The 100, The Following, Falling Skies and The Blacklist. Later tomorrow night, though, is one of the things I’m most looking forward to for the entire week, the Veronica Mars movie fan event. I was a day one backer of the project, and cannot wait to see what Rob Thomas has in store for us.

Over the past couple of days, I’ve previewed the upcoming new dramas for both ABC and CBS. Today, it’s time to look at The CW. I’ve always been a fan of the upstart network, though I thought last year’s slate of new shows left a great deal to be desired. Of the five that premiered, only Arrow and The Carrie Diaries survived. This year’s offerings, however, look much better. Of the five new shows that survived The CW’s development process, there’s only one or two that probably won’t find a place on my DVR.

There is one big question about The CW’s schedule: Where are they going to fit all these shows? They’ve got fourteen hour-long shows on the scheduled, compared to twelve last year. Nikita is already announced to have a shortened final season — much as Gossip Girl did last year — but I think considering the network’s shorter primetime window, that some of these new shows might only see thirteen episode seasons.

I just hope it’s not one of the ones I really like.

The Hundred (Midseason)

The CW has been looking for something for the Hunger Games demographic to latch onto for a couple of seasons now, and I believe they’ve found a good one in The Hundred. Count this on my list of shows I most like that are scheduled for midseason. In a dystopian future, what is left of humanity circles the nuclear ravaged planet on a large space station with dwindling resources. Because the adults don’t want to risk their lives on an expedition to the surface to see if it inhabitable, they send 100 juvenile delinquents to do the job for them. I really liked the dynamic between in the stories with the kids on the planet — especially Eliza Taylor (Neighbours) – and the adults on the station, including Henry Ian Cusick (Lost), Paige Turco (Person of Interest) and Isaiah Washington (Grey’s Anatomy)

Verdict: May the odds be ever in The 100’s favor.

Eight Ball Chances of a Second Season: As I see it yes.

The Originals (Tuesdays 8:00PM)

If you like The Vampire Diaries, you’re probably going to enjoy its spinoff. I’m actually marathoning TVD this summer, and am enjoying it quite a bit more than expected. I screened The Originals before I started on that marathon, so I suspect I’ll like it quite a bit more when I get to it again as it aired as a part of TVD‘s latest season. The original has done quite well building a niche audience on the CW, and I suspect the spinoff will do just as well.

Verdict: I’m much more likely to watch now that I’m enjoying The Vampire Diaries this summer.

Eight Ball Chances of a Second Season: Signs point to yes.

Reign (Thursdays 9:00PM)

Considering how deep the CW into genre programming with the other four pilots they ordered this season, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to scratching my head at Reign. There’s a big part of me that wants to call the show an attempt at Game of Thrones-lite, but I think that would be a little unfair. Fellow Clacker Deb apparently really liked it, and I think the CW is an excellent fit for the show. I would have never thought we’d find a show about Mary, Queen of Scots that was targeted at the 90210 crowd, but Reign pulls it off.

Verdict: Sorry, just not my thing.

Eight Ball Chances of a Second Season: Cannot predict now.

Star-Crossed (Midseason)

The CW has tried twice in two years to build a show around former Friday Night Lighter-er Aimee Teegarden – her pilot last year the Selection didn’t get picked up – but I’m not sure Star-Crossed is going to be the hit they are looking for. It seems like half of the things on The CW started off as stories about star-crossed lovers; I’m not sure the network can sustain the weight of another. Star-crossed’s most interesting plot line wasn’t Teegarden’s Emery and her boyfriend Roman, but the treatment of the group of alien “teenagers” selected to be integrated into a red-state high school.

Verdict: If something special happens in the first couple of episodes, the show feels like it isn’t Roswell enough.

Eight Ball Chances of a Second Season: I don’t think so.

The Tomorrow People (Wednesdays 9:00PM)

Since the Upfronts, The Tomorrow People has been one of the most buzzed about pilots out here, and it lives up to the hype. The cast is solid, though I think the CW might be relying just a little too heavily on the Amell family for their programming – Robbie is the lead here and his cousin stars as Oliver Queen on Arrow. I’ve never experienced the original British show, so I can’t make those comparisons … but the remake is very good. Amell does a solid job, I’ve been a fan of Peyton List for several years now and you can always count on Mark Pellegrino to always bring the goods.

Verdict: I’m sold. Big time.

Eight Ball Chances of a Second Season: It is decidedly so.