Comic-Con 2012: 11 TV Things We Want to See Happen

With a plethora of rookie series (CW’s Arrow, NBC’s Revolution, Fox’s The Following, ABC’s 666 Park Avenue and CBS’ Elementary, among others) set to debut at this year’s Comic-Con to savvy make-or-break audiences, a full slate of returning series will also reflect on their recently wrapped seasons and look to the future.

While everyone can expect to hear the obvious (“What was your favorite moment of the season?”) as well as a fair share of breaking news (expect first look trailers, premiere dates and more), here are 11 TV things The Hollywood Reporter wants to see from some of the hottest panels at Comic-Con (in no particular order).

THR’s Comic-Con Coverage

1. Glee: How’s about some clarity for Season 4? With all 15 regulars confirmed to be coming back in some capacity, how will the Fox series tackle stories potentially set in New York (Rachel), Los Angeles (Mercedes), Connecticut (Quinn), Georgia (Finn), Chicago (Mike) and Ohio (pretty much everyone else)? And what will become of Kurt now that he’s not NYADA-bound?! Plus will the Glee Project‘s Damian McGinty and Samuel Larsen return? So many questions!

2. Firefly: Joss Whedon, Nathan Fillion and company will represent the show for its first Comic-Con panel (better late than never!) celebrating its 10th anniversary. We don’t want to be greedy, but it’d be amazing to see a new Firefly project announced: We’ll take anything — animated series, web short — so long as it’s shiny! 

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3. The Big Bang Theory: Details for Season 6! How long will Howard (Simon Helberg) be in space? Where will newlyweds Howard and Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) live when he returns? Will Penny (Kaley Cuoco) respond to Leonard’s (Johnny Galecki) marriage proposal? They’re all fundamental questions that could mean some big changes for the series. After performances by the Barenaked Ladies and Mrs. Wolowitz dropping by for an (unseen) visit the past two years, our expectations are high.

4. Dexter: How will Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) react to seeing her adopted brother’s Dark Passenger? In this case, we’ll get what we want as Showtime will unspool the first two minutes of Season 7, which picks up immediately after Deb watches Dex (Michael C. Hall) — whom she’s fallen in love with! — stab Travis (last season’s Big Bad) to death.

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5. Game of Thrones: Confirmation author George R.R. Martin‘s epic third book, A Storm of Swords, will indeed be split into two seasons. When HBO, which renewed Thrones for a third season in April, many expected the pickup to be for two additional seasons to cover the more than 900-page story in two, 10-episode seasons.

6. Community: We’ve heard the talking points, but little actual talking about the ouster of creator/showrunner Dan Harmon. Hopefully new showrunners David Guarascio and Moses Port address the elephant in the room then move the story and start talking about what’s different sans Harmon for Season 4.

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7. Bones: Making its return to Comic-Con after an the show axed its planned trip to San Diego last year at the eleventh-hour, we’d love nothing more than for David Boreanaz to put to rest speculation of his free agency following Season 8. Even 20th Century Fox TV chairman Dana Walden is game for additional seasons.

8. The Walking Dead:The first Season 3 trailer and a premiere date will likely be announced but it’s a casting we want to see. With the arrival of Michonne (Danai Gurira), the Governor (David Morrissey) and the prison, there’s only one thing missing: Tyreese, who in the Robert Kirkman comics becomes a heroic go-to guy in Rick’s ragtag bunch.

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9. The Vampire Diaries: Elena’s a vampire, now what?!It’s something that happens in the L.J. Smith novels and viewers weren’t 100 percent sure whether the TV adaptation would give way to the books any time soon. Now that it has, how does this impact her relationship with the Salvatore brothers — and more importantly, how will they react to this game-changing transformation? Plus, is Joseph Morgan‘s Klaus as we know him really gone? 

10. True Blood: How can Bill (Stephen Moyer) and Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) deliver Russell Edgington (Denis O’Hare) to the Vampire Authority before the deadly iStakes strapped around their hearts go off? With Christopher Meloni set for the panel, hopefully Roman plans to keep order in the Vampire community will be revealed. Plus what happens to wounded shifters Sam (Sam Trammell) and Luna (Janina Gavankar)?

11. Fringe: Fox’s cult favorite will end — for good — after the upcoming fifth season. Will sole showrunner J.H. Wyman dish out the dirt at what will presumably be the show’s final San Diego visit? Will familiar faces return for the show’s swan song (looking at you, Kirk Acevedo)? Last year, a memorable, star-studded “audition reel” for MIA team member Peter (Josh Jackson) made the rounds, so what surprises does the team have up its sleeve this time?

What do you want to see from your favorite show at Comic-Con? Hit the comments with your thoughts and bookmark THR’s The Live Feed blog for more Comic-Con coverage this week.

Michael.OConnell@thr.com, Philiana.Ng@thr.com and Rebecca.Ford@thr.com contributed to this report.

Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit