Comic-Con, Day 1: “X-Files” stars reunite; “South Park”, “Dexter” featured

The opening day of Comic-Con had little in the way of television panels – but they were huge. The events of the day were headlined by three shows: the X-Files 20th anniversary; Dexter’s final season; and a release of a new South Park video game.

X Files: With people waiting in lines for hours, the X-Files Anniversary panel reunited two of the shows’ biggest stars: David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. The two talked about the possibility of doing a third movie – however, Anderson did rule out the idea of returning as Dana Scully if the X-Files were to return as a limited series on Fox (a la 24.)

X-Files creator Cris Carter pointed out the series wouldn’t be all different from other fare if it premiered in 2013, as opposed to 1993 (you can say it was Genre TV before it was called Genre TV.)

Another X-Files writer alum was Vince Gilligan, who now is the showrunner of Breaking Bad. He recalled the time he met Bryan Cranston in a season six X-Files episode, saying it was fruitful for him (this was one season before Cranston was cast as Hal in Malcolm in the Middle.)

Similar to what Heroes is doing, The X-Files is planning a comic book series, but it didn’t exactly win the endorsement of Carter, who is not involved with the publication.

Anderson reflected on her Scully character and the impact she had on television. From THR: “Scully had quite a huge impact from the aspects of her personality, her personal strength, things she stood up for. She was also a decent human being.”

X-Files was certainly one of the best dramas of its day – well acted, well written (except after Duchovny left), and perhaps the strongest female character of the 1990’s.

Here is the full X-Files 20th Anniversary panel:

– South Park: Book Of Mormons creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone (yes, they’re known for something other than South Park) met their fans at a panel at Comic-Con, and talked about their new video game (Stick Of Truth) and the upcoming season of South Park.

The duo were not fond of the first game (anyone with a Nintendo 64 can tell you that), and wanted all creative control with this project (a release date still has not been confirmed.) Both Parker and Stone did confirm the start date of the new season of South Park, which premieres on Comedy Central September 25. Given their busy schedules, Bill Hader has been tapped to write all episodes for this upcoming season.

As for the game, look for lots of musical numbers, a map of South Park, and a special appearance by Chef (but the voice behind Chef – the late Issac Hayes – isn’t likely to be used.)

Here’s the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUU7ZnlVTD4

Dexter: One of the many shows at Comic-Con without sci-fi or fantasy themes, the cast and crew gathered for their curtain call as the series enters its eighth and final season with an emotional panel. The Showtime drama about a serial killer closed out Comic-Con Thursday, as the cast – past and present – greeted their fans. One of Dexter’s archnemisises (John Litgow) did not appear at the panel, but did appear via in a taped message, noting “I’m dead”. The cast reminisced about the series and talked about the upcoming final season.

Perhaps one of the funniest lines at the panel was a response to a fan’s question about a potential spinoff. Michael C. Hall, the man behind Dexter, quipped: “In 25 years there’s going to be a new series called ‘Harrison’, and Dexter will have died and I’m going to be his dead, internalized father.”

Already sounds better than many spin-offs that have sucked air out of the TV space for years.