While most fanboys/girls were trolling Comic-Con looking for the latest collectible toys and waiting in line to see the Green Hornet, I was gearing up for the highlight of my journalism career; round table interviews with the cast of CSI and NCIS.

Lucky for me, the first to sit at my table’s hot seat was none other than Kirsten Vangsness, who plays Penelope Garcia on Criminal Minds. Being the tech nerd that I am, it should come as no surprise that she is my favorite character across the CBS franchise.

I also had the opportunity to sit down with Barret Foa of NCIS: LA, who was far more awesome in person.  In fact, I might have to put him right up with Kirsten when it comes to fave off screen personalities.  He talked with us about his lust for the iPad, the scary technology showcased on the show as well as a sneak peek into some of the new characters on the show.

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And finally, we got the chance to speak with Rich Catalani, the Supervising Producer of CSI. He talked with us about featuring stories ripped from the headlines, how crime pays and what the transition was like bringing Laurence Fishburne on.

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While caught up in the hustle and bustle of Comic-Con, there were a few choice moments of pure joy and hilarity. One of those moments came from a demo of the new Wii game Karaoke Revolution: Glee when we visited the Konami Suite.

Glee has been a break-out show for Fox and now they are teaming up with Konami to bring the show to your living room via the Wii. In addition to fans being able to sing along to their favorite tunes from episodes 1-13, they will also get to see footage of the show running in the background.

So to play the game, you sing along with the song and the more accurate your timing and pitch, the better you score in the game. Their is a story mode, which plays you through the story of  Glee, and then there are the regular singing modes. While we were there, we tested out the duo singing mode, and it very well. Being that we were on an unfinished version of the game, I will hold off comments on the UI and the movies in the game, but suffice to say that when it is polished, Glee fans will definitely be excited and pleased with the outcome. Check out some game play footage below

If you are at all into karaoke on gaming consoles, KRG should be an easy game to pick up and play. As a bonus, the game will also come with extras from the show that can be unlocked based on certain achievements in the game. Considering Glee fans can not get enough of the show, this looks like a no-brainer.

Karaoke Revolution: Glee is set to hit store shelves this fall and will be exclusive to the Nintendo Wii.

“I never learned shit from success, it’s the failures that taught me the real lessons.  Just don’t give up, Hollywood is full of people who just didn’t give up.”  – Billy West [Fry]

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The folks over at Cartoon Brew managed to get their hands on some footage of the new Looney Toons cartoons set to hit Cartoon Network. From the small clip we see above, the footage looks really great. Additional information on the short can be found here.

Everything you want to know about the prequel and Season 1 is noted in the vid, so pop the top on it and dig in! Here are a few other highlights from the panel:

• The show is shot 100% indoors.
• The Prequel wasn’t originally part of the plan, but was shot when Andy Whitfield became sick with Leukemia.
  
• Andy does all of his own stunts, due to the fact that a lot of the show is rendered in slow motion.  Most of the other actors in the arena with him are MMA fighters/boxers.

Tonight, Project Runway returns for its 8th season. It’s an hour earlier and 30 minutes longer. That’s right, catch it on Lifetime at 9 p.m. and get a full 90 minutes of fashion and fighting. Maybe this means they’ve ditched Models of the Runway (please say it’s true) There’s also some collapsing, tears and a pregnant Nina Garcia this season.  The show is back in NY and the first celebrity judge: Selma Blair. Stay tuned…

When it comes to the fangirls/fanboys at Comic-Con, everyone has their niche that they fall into.  You’ve got your HP heads, X-Men freaks, the SteamPunk movement, Star Wars and Trekkie junkies….and then, the vamp lovers.  While Annie Rice started the obsession with the fanged avengers, it wasn’t until the Twilight Saga and Sookie Stackhouse stories were released that the madness went global.

Charlaine Harris, author of the Sookie Stackhouse stories made a two day appearance at this years Comic-Con, giving the die hard fans exactly what we all wanted; an inside look at the television series, book series and the cross over that happens in-between.

Harris walked into her initial Q&A session just as humble as Ms. Stackhouse herself.  In fact, a number of fans who approached her with questions commented on how similar she was to Sookie, in both her attitude and accent.  Almost as if the character was modeled after a young Harris.  On that note, let’s just right into it…where did Sookie Stackhouse come from?

“I named Sookie after the notion that the name itself reminded me of a good ol’ fashioned girl with a modern twist.”

The more we got into the psyche of Sookie, Harris revealed quite a few interesting facts.  1] The Sookie she created, often referred to as the ‘true Sookie,’ was actually a far curvier girl.  Interestingly enough, Harris didn’t find this out until Season 1 of True Blood wrapped, which is when she finally got a chance to meet Anna Pacquin.  We also got to talking about how some of the other characters she created compared to those cast in the series.  Just as I had predicted, both Andy Bellfleur and Pam were dead ringers.

Harris goes on to talk about the influence that Anne Rice had on her writing, citing herself as a mini-fangirl of Rice’s work.  When True Blood began airing, Harris was forced to join up on all of the popularized social network sites, becoming tech saavy almost overnight.  One of the first Facebook messages she received was from Anne Rice, who praised her work, telling Harris that she loved the series.  Her message response?  “Honey, you should read the books.”

One of the most interesting things learned during my time with Charlaine was the fact that she had absolutely no creative control when it came to the creation and direction of the show [True Blood].  When asked if she ever had doubts or regrets, she said:

“When HBP came to me and wanted the books, I said, “Sure, write me a check honey.” When selling the rights to your work, it isn’t about having control over where it goes…it’s having the control to decide who it goes to.  I feel like I made the right decision in choosing Alan, don’t you?”

If you aren’t an avid reader of the books, I will fill you in on a small secret, there are vast differences between the two series, with one of the most prominent being the creation of Jessica.  Invented by Alan Ball, Jessica plays an integral role in the series, going as far as to appear on the major promotional bill board, noting her as a staple part of the cast.  In fact, her presence in Bon Temps was enough to make Harris jealous, as she admitted to wishing that she would’ve invented her.  It seems that a baby vamp never crossed her mind, as Harris’ creation process is as follows;

“I invent people as I need them, and then I’ll flush them out.”

Both witty and vulnerably honest, Harris closed her session with the following:

“I will not be implementing any of HBO’s changes with the series into the Sookie series.  They are two completely different entities now, which is good for you.  It’s almost like you’re getting two for the price of one.”

Check out the remainder of the Q&A, where you can find out the pressing info you want to know…such as, if Sookie ever gets turned

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It’s not the Different World box set I was hoping would one day be released, but I have to admit 21 Jump Street was a little more than awesome. Not only did it jump start FOX, it brought us Johnny Depp before he grew into the rare Hollywood genius we treasure today. Yes, he was hot back then too. I was just too young to notice. This week, the complete series debuts on DVD, that’s right all 103 episodes from the 5-season hit are on Amazon for $45.