• NBC has been kind enough to post beautifully shot video of their “Heroes” panel from the con. About 4 minutes into part three, Kevin’s introduction begins. This is the first moment that the world learned that Kevin will direct the first episode of “Heroes: Origins”. This is the new show from the “Heroes” creators which will run next season, introducing NEW Heroes, one of which we’ll be able to vote into the regular cast. We’re hopeful that Kevin might be given the opportunity to write some or all of his installment, too, though we’ll have to wait and see what comes of that. The show will start airing in April, following “Heroes” season two. For still photos of the cast, check out Superhero Hype.
• Kevin mentioned a planned start date for January 2008 for “Zack and Miri Make A Porno”. This would allow him to film around the coldest time of the year to suit the film’s winter theme. A shooting locale has not yet been confirmed.
• Instead of forcing folks to re-buy “Chasing Amy” on DVD, Criterion will release a new supplemental disc containing the new Q&A and some other goodies. We thought this one was pretty major so we’ve got a full story for it just below this one.
• Nisha Gopalan from EW has been doing a post on each of her days at Comic Con; Kevin made his appearance in Friday’s recap :

  The day ended with what is now a Comic-Con ritual, the panel hosted by geek god Kevin Smith. In the main conference hall, Smith screened the full pilot episode he directed of the upcoming TV series Reaper (airing this fall Tuesdays at 9pm on The CW), and then brought a few cast members and the show’s creators onto the stage — to watch Kevin Smith answer questions that had nothing to do with the (quite well-received) show. Practically all of it was absolutely hysterical — and completely unprintable on a family blog. Suffice it to say, the audience learned far, far more about the sexual escapades of Smith’s new daschunds than they ever could’ve expected.

• Phasekitty wrote an excellent blog post on Kevin’s Comic Con Q&A for the Team Sugar blog (they have the Pop Sugar, Geek Sugar, etc. sites). There’s a full review of the Reaper re-shoot along with a re-cap of the talk. She also has some nicely snapped pics from the show.
• How about a look at some other press from around the web that discussed Kevin’s appearances…Shall we?
  BuddyTV: 2007 Comicon: ‘Reaper’ Screening and Panel with Director Kevin Smith

  
  Zap2It: Kevin Smith to Direct ‘Origins’ Episode

  TV Squad: Comic-Con: Heroes panel – BREAKING NEWS

Finally, don’t miss Kevin’s own post/wrapup that he just released today where he runs down more major press outlets who had great things to say about his appearance as well as the hilarious “Reaper” pilot. Wow, we gotta make it to this next year, as Kevin urges. If anyone’s got more to say, something we missed, photos, or stories, we’d love to hear them — Or, share them via our comment system for the world to see.

75. Alanis Morissette, ‘Uninvited’ (‘City of Angels,’ 1998) One year after Alanis penned this heavenly, Oscar-worthy song for a syrupy film about angels, she was cast as God in Kevin Smith’s brilliantly blasphemous ‘Dogma.’ Coincidence? — M. Tye Comer

Kevin “Silent Bob” Smith spends a half-hour of his An Evening With Kevin Smith DVD spilling some of the secret life of Prince he learned while filming a documentary at Paisley Park. The chunky filmmaker was obsessed with the funky hitmaker’s fashion sense. Why all the Shakespearean getups and high heels?

One of Prince’s assistants assured Smith that Prince wears warm-ups and sneakers when he plays basketball. Nothing hand-made. Typical store-bought stuff. From Nordstrom’s.

Norstrom’s sells stuff in Prince’s size? Smith asks. Yes, the assistant explains — in the boys department. “That is so (effin’) cute!” Smith marvels.

BOO, EMMYS!

Jason Lee (My Name Is Earl) doesn’t make the cut

Where’s Jason Lee? I understand there are only [a few] nominees per category, but [Lee and Lauren Graham] are the leads of long-running shows who consistently do GREAT jobs. —Dio_K

The nominations stink this year…. Jason Lee is about a 100 times funnier than [Charlie] Sheen. No wonder the ratings for the Emmys has been dropping, they have no clue as to what is good TV. —Tisa

Kevin’s got details on what he plans to discuss, links to all that positive “Reaper” press, and a promise to be on time tonight via his blog. We’ll look forward to hearing back from you lucky San Diego Con attendees on what ya think of “Reaper” and how the Q&A goes. Enjoy!

“Reaper,” a show about a guy who learns on his 21st birthday that his parents have sold his soul to the Devil, is drawing early word of mouth here in Hollywood, among critics and executives in the television business who have seen the pilot, for being something not really seen on television before: an hourlong buddy-comedy-horror series.

…

Casting the Devil was another challenge. Mr. Smith said, “We saw some of the big names in the business.” He did not name any but said that none of what he called “the old guard” could capture what the character called for, a quality of being “sincerely insincere.”

Read the full article at the New York Times website

“Kevin Smith was amazing,” Harrison said in an interview following a press conference at the Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills, Calif., last week. “I think if you took from what we had in the beginning to what it came to be, it was leaps and bounds [ahead], just in terms of being able to get so many different choices. Kevin never wants the same thing twice. And for an actor, that’s the best thing you could ever ask for. At least for me.”

In Reaper, Harrison plays Sam Oliver, an ordinary guy who discovers on his 21st birthday that his parents sold his soul to the devil (Ray Wise) before he was born. From that point on, he is forced to become a demonic bounty hunter, sending the damned back to hell whenever they escape.

While filming the pilot, Harrison wasn’t always sure about Smith’s choices on the set, but he trusted in the director and realized that he was always right in the end. “Something that you don’t think is going to work on the day just might end up happening to work amazingly in the editing room,” he said. “And there’s things that are cut together that I never thought in a million years would cut right together. Because Kevin would give me a choice, like ‘All right, I’ll do it, but wow, this is scary, I am so out of my element. This is too campy. Really? You want me to do the Silent Bob eye-open deal that he does?’ And it works. And I saw it cut together, and it was like, ‘S–t man, trust the Smith.'”

In a separate interview, Harrison’s co-star, Tyler Labine, also praised Smith’s directing talents. Labine plays Sam’s best friend, Sock, who helps him in his bounty-hunting missions.

“Kevin Smith was, and is, my biggest man crush I’ve ever had in my life,” Labine said. “He came onto the show, and just even beyond having a good script—like, a very solid bedrock of a script that we could sit on—he just helped us get that [sparkle]. There’s like a sparkle in the pilot. There’s something you can’t quite put your finger on, and that’s Kevin Smith. He’s in and around everything. I mean, he cuts everything himself, he’s very hands-on. He’s a beacon of independent filmmaking.”

Labine added that he particularly appreciated the fact that Smith would let the actors deviate from the script if they felt the need to. “He encouraged us to improvise,” he said. “He improvises with us. … He’d say something or I’d yell something, and he’d be acting off-camera like, ‘Now try this,’ and you’re doing it, and lights are going off, and you’re, like, fighting fire, and he’s yelling. It was one of the truest sort of collaborative [experiences], especially for television.”

SModcast 21: Little Outhouse on the Prairie –

In which the patriarchy is restored and our heroes discuss a wide range of topics like Flushable Moist Wipes, the triumphant advent of Flushable Moist Wipes, the historical significance of Flushable Moist Wipes, dry corncobs vs. Flushable Moist Wipes, magic ice boxes vs. Flushable Moist Wipes, and “Heroes”.

Ah, the joy of flushable moist wipes indeed. As always, free, $0.00, for your download anytime you want, exclusively through the great Quick Stop Entertainment. Download, enjoy, and be sure to comment here or at one of Kevin’s blogs with your thoughts on the show. The dude loves to hear your feedback on SModcast.

With this highly-anticipated pilot episode, as well as the lure of a fantastic Kevin Q&A, this WILL be one of the hottest tickets at the con this weekend – We recommend you arrive, and line up, EARLY. Don’t miss this one if you have a chance to get there.