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As you can see, I am not disappointed I didn't get to see Watchmen early. For the first time, I was more than an attendee. I was a genuine reporter for Whedonopolis. While managing to get my weekly wrap-up of Dollhouse done, I got to talk to several cool people, and helped out with the rare Once More With Feeling screening that ended the convention. I am hoping that come Comic-Con time, we'll have a Dr. Horrible/OMWF doubleheader. It would be a natural. Aside from the Whedon-related stories, I got a chance to look at several other shows. Not only that, I got the Fonz's autograph, along with Spongebob, Kenan, and GOB...plus hopes for Arrested Development, the movie. Australian sitcoms seem to be the new source for American TV. NBC just Americanized Kath and Kim after it became a small hit on cable. That inspired NBC to create an American version that hasn't become as popular as the original. Still, Mitch Hurwitz wanted  import another Aussie sitcom....but in a different way. He is making a U-S version of "Sit Down! Shut Up!" about some teachers who care about themselves more about their job, into an animated series. It will soon be part of Fox's Sunday animated lineup in April. Hurwitz first saw SDSU several years ago, and had thouight of making it a sitcom, but didn't find any takers. For one thing, he was asked to do a rewrite:"Everybody said you'd have to make these characters a little more relatable." So, he thought of making it an animated sitcom. "I thought 'well, maybe it would be easier if I made it an animated series' It hasn't been easier." Still, it's a challenge he's very excited about. In fact, instead of drawn backgrounds, he uses real pictures for the cartoon characters. Unlike other animated shows, this is a workplace comedy rather than based on a family. Hurwitz realy compared this to how he produced AD. "In many ways, we were trying to do in Arrested what the Simpsons had done with animation. "I personally just like these kinds of challenges, trying something new," he continued. "Television is particularly, really traffics in repeating onself. It's become my least favorite thing to do creatively. I really enjoyed this." He also says the final product is a combination of live action and animated styles.

Four of the voice artists were at the panel, but their faces are familiar. Will Arnett, GOB on AD, is Ennis Hofftard who teaches, well, something. "He's a guy who's more concerned about his physical fitness, and how he's doing with the ladies," he says. "The schooling of the children is more of an after-thought than anything." It's no coincidence the teachers are drawn more vividly than the kids in this show. Kenan Thompson of SNL is the female acting prinicpal, Sue Sezno, who says no. "She is kind of thrust into this position of principal at the last minute," he explains. "She doesn't know what she's doing but she really doesn't care. He also jokingly admitted  "yeah, I like playing ladies", which he has on SNL.

Another familiar face is Henry Winkler, the Fonz to Baby Boomers and the Bluths' lawyer in AD. Here, he plays Willard Deutschebog, a German teacher with no students and frail health. He takes several pills, while his mom is always in the back seat of any car he's in.  "He likes women," he adds, but he'd rather eat bologna." Comedian Tom Kenny, also the voice of Spongebob Squarepants, plays Happy, a janitor of unknown decent, who grumbles in some mysterious language. It sounds like he's plottnig something, but he isn't. While this got the crowd interested, they really wanted to know if there will finally be a movie version of AD. Hurwitz admits it will happen, but there is no script right now. "It was a great joy and priviledge, all kidding aside," he said, "to be able to do a show that took risks and with such a wonderful cast and wonderful writers. For us, it's irresistable, I think." He also admits that when he made AD, they didn't hold themselves to any standard. "Now suddenly," he says, "there's a mark to hit." The producers only brought a few clips to show what the final product will be, but the fans were more excited to see Kenny do his Spongebob voice, and Winkler become the Fonz one more time. They were not disappointed. Winkler used his Fonz voice t oget people to promote the show. He was also asked about the fact that he invented the term "jumping ths shark" when Fonzie did just that on Happy Days in 1977. He proudly said "I am the only actor in the world that has jumped the shark twice." The other time was in AD, when Zuckerman jumped over a shark and did a product placement for Burger King. Hurwitz also talked about the impact of new media, and how the networks hasn't really taken advantage of it. "It's still run by the old guard, and it (the viewers of new media) is probably way bigge than the viewership. He thinks outtakes, and an uncensored version of the show, would be very popular.