At Comic-con, I saw the pilot episode of Fringe, J.J. Abrams’ new television show. This was the first time that Comic-Con scheduled programming for the relatively new Wednesday preview night at the Con. They had 2 showings, but could have condensed it to one since neither screening was very full. I think everyone was a little exhausted from waiting in line for hours to get their badges and a quick burst of maniacal exploration of the exhibit hall. There were also three screenings of Fringe on Thursday night at a downtown movie theatre. After the Q&A panel there was a scavenger hunt that culminated in an outdoor screening of the pilot.

The show was good. My snap summation: The X-Files meets Numb3rs. I don’t want to give away too much. If you are one of those people (like me) who doesn’t want to read any spoilers… maybe you should'nt read on.

I arrived at 8am Saturday morning to get in line for the morning panels in Hall H, for Heroes and Lost back to back. I was amazed to find 2000+ people already in line. There were numerous people who camped out all night. The Heroes panel didn’t start until 10:45am but the entire greenbelt to the South of the convention center had a serpentine line filling it up. People were starting to line up down the access road behind the convention center. I took the opportunity to snap a number of pictures of the line and the costumed fans. People kept coming.  At 9:08 am, a security guy with a bullhorn announced that the line went all the way to Seaport Village. I didn’t wait around to see if everyone got in.

I'm not a comic book guy anymore. I used to be. Now I'm on the floor for swag, toys, t-shirts, and people watching. I go to the panels for TV shows and movies.  I've scoured the panel schedule and this is what I've come up with for the television panels that should not be missed this year:

1.    Lost.  Too obvious? Too bad. Lost is probably the best show on television. The modern day Gilligan's Island, except with a plane crash. Bring on season 5.  Panel: Sat 12pm, Hall H

2.    Fringe J.J. Abrams showed the pilot of Lost at Comic-Con four years ago and it was awesome. I'm not going to miss the chance to see his newest TV show.  This one starts with a plane landing in Boston... but everyone on board has died some sort of gruesome death. It sounds like the introductory mystery alerting our cast that the world is weirder than we thought... do I smell a Lost crossover? (Maybe he'll have a Star Trek clip too.) Pilot Screening: Wed 6pm and 7:30pm, Ballroom 20 Panel: Sat 4:45, Ballroom 20