Comic Con - CW's 'Beauty & The Beast'

The screening and panel will take on Thursday, July 12 at 3:30-4:35 PM in Ballroom 20.

Kristin Kreuk ("Smallville") and Jay Ryan ("Terra Nova") along with Executive Producers Jennifer Levin ("Without a Trace"), Sherri Cooper ("Brothers & Sisters"), Brian Peterson ("Smallville") and Kelly Souders ("Smallville") discuss the new CW fall series, a modern adaptation of a beloved fairy tale. Centering on Catherine Chandler (Kreuk), a tough-minded NYPD homicide detective who is haunted by witnessing her mother's murder nine years ago - as well as the murderer's quick demise at what she perceived to be the hands of a beast. After years of searching, Catherine finally discovers the beast is Vincent Keller (Ryan), a survivor of a military experiment that went disastrously wrong and left him to lead a secret life in hiding. Join the cast and producers for an exclusive viewing of the first episode, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Dalton Ross (Assistant Managing Editor, Entertainment Weekly).

Kreuk, Ryan and the show executive producers will participate in an exclusive autograph signing following the panel at the CW/CBS Booth at 5:00-6:15 PM on the convention floor.

More in-depth summary: 

Detective Catherine Chandler is a smart, no-nonsense homicide detective. When she was a teenager, Catherine witnessed the murder of her mother at the hands of two gunmen. Catherine would have been killed too, but someone – or something – saved her. No one has ever believed her, but she knows it wasn't an animal that attacked the assassins…it was human. Years have passed, and Catherine is a strong, confident, capable police officer, working alongside her equally talented partner, Tess. 

While investigating a murder, Catherine discovers a clue that leads her to a handsome doctor named Vincent Keller, who was reportedly killed by enemy fire while serving in Afghanistan in 2002. Catherine learns that Vincent is actually still alive and that it was he who saved her many years before. For mysterious reasons that have forced him to live outside of traditional society, Vincent has been in hiding for the past 10 years to guard his secret – when he is enraged, he becomes a terrifying beast, unable to control his super-strength and heightened senses. Catherine agrees to protect his identity in return for any insight he may have into her mother's murder. Thus begins a complex relationship between Catherine and Vincent, who are powerfully drawn to each other yet understand that their connection is extremely dangerous for both of them.

The series stars Kristin Kreuk ("Smallville," "Chuck") as Catherine, Jay Ryan ("Terra Nova") as Vincent, Max Brown ("The Tudors," "MI-5") as Evan, Nina Lisandrello ("Nurse Jackie") as Tess, Nicole Gale Anderson ("Make It or Break It") as Heather, Austin Basis ("Life Unexpected") as J.T., and Brian White ("The Shield," "The Cabin in the Woods") as Joe.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is from CBS Television Studios with executive producers Jennifer Levin ("Without A Trace," "Felicity"), Sherri Cooper ("Brothers and Sisters"), Bill Haber ("Rizzoli & Isles," "Thurgood"), Paul J. Witt ("A Better Life") & Tony Thomas ("A Better Life"), Ron Koslow ("Moonlight") and Gary Fleder ("Life Unexpected").

Comic Con - Reviews are in CW's 'Arrow'

So what did the Comic-Con masses think of The CW’s Arrow?

Based on DC Comic’s Green Arrow, the new fall action-drama’s pilot seems ready-made for the fan event. The pilot just screened in Ballroom 20 and fans…

Pretty much loved it. The crowd not only applauded at the end of the episode, they applauded following a particularly intense fight scene. “It was fantastic,” says Gabi, 35, visiting from England. Gabi enthused about star Stephen Amell despite having also loved Smallville‘s Green Arrow played by Justin Hartley. “[Amell's] really physical and his acting is great.”

“I really liked it; it had really good production values,” says Jamie, 45, who watched the pilot along with Gabriel, 12, who added: “It was really cool; it really kept you into it.”

“I don’t watch much TV, but I would watch this,” says Carissa, 22, from Paso Robles, California.

Starring Amell as billionaire playboy Oliver Queen, the fast-paced origin story plays a bit like a TV-sized Batman Begins. Unlike The Dark Knight, however, this hero uses lethal force (a good thing — aiming arrows at bad guys’ legs every week would get silly pretty quick). The pilot also manages to tell a pretty ambitious story on a small-screen budget (some CGI-aided scenes involving a yacht at sea look a million times better than last year’s infamous Ringer pilot boat scene).

“It feels like a continuation of Smallville, only darker, it was really good,” says Alex, 22, from San Diego.

A joke about the ending of ABC’s Lost went over particularly well in the room. So did this exchange where Queen — newly rescued after spending years isolated on an island — is told that a potential dating prospect “looks like the girl from Twilight.”

“What’s Twilight?” Queen asks.

“You’re so better off not knowing,” his friend replies.

Shelby, 25, from Arkansas, says she really enjoyed Arrow, though had a slight criticism. “It was action packed, but if I’m being honest, it was just a tiny bit cheesy,” she says. Sounding just like an industry insider, Shelby then added: “I’m pretty sure it was just the pilot working the kinks out.”

Comic Con - Reviews are in '666 Park'

Joining ABC's solid looking line-up of dramas on Sunday nights this fall is 666 Park Avenue, a series based on Gabriella Pierce's series of books. 666 Park Avenue puts Lost's Terry O'Quinn back at ABC in a starring role as the mysterious owner of a New York City building with a supernatural-twist. 

666 Park is not the lightest pilot fare being offered up by networks this fall — in fact, it’s downright spooky. But that seemed to please most of Comic-Con goers who attended the pilot screening this evening in San Diego as part of the annual convention.

The show, starring Lost alum Terry O’Quinn, Rachel Taylor, and Vanessa Williams, centers on a young couple (Taylor and Dave Annable) that takes a job as managers of a historic (and totally haunted) apartment building. Quinn and Williams play the mysterious owners of the building.

Positive as the buzz has been around the eerie ABC show, the reaction from the crowd tonight was mixed. Here’s what some of the audience members had to say:

“It’s a little slow for me. I’m not really engaged with the mysteries at all or the people. I kinda don’t care. [The acting] was fine. I mostly saw it for Terry O’ Quinn; he did okay. [The character] is no Locke, though.” — Thad, 35

“It was actually pretty good. It was pretty interesting and pretty well done. It was well shot for a pilot…[and] suspenseful.” — Gustavo, 24

“This was a good concept. The cinematography looked cool and the play on history [with] the occult was cool. I’d recommend it [to fellow Lost fans] because [O'Quinn] still has that same style of acting.” — April, 26 and Lost fan

“I’ll watch it. I’m a Vanessa Williams fan. It looks like it’s well written, and there were definitely moments where I didn’t expect [certain things] to happen. I had a couple of shocking moments…I’m definitely going to watch it when it hits the TV.” — Mari, 57

“I liked Terry O’Quinn. It wasn’t really that frightening, [but] there were definitely things [in the pilot] that I want to find out more about, and hopefully I’ll watch the rest of it.” – Ritchie, 24