Hello and welcome to the first day proper here at Comic-Con in San Diego. The first of three panels I'm bringing you today is for Beauty and the Beast, a new series retelling the familiar tale in a modern setting, with Kristin Kreuk (Smallville) and Jay Ryan (the recently-deceased Terra Nova) as The Beauty and The Beast respectively.
I'll admit that I'm not much of a fan of remakes, particularly 'genre' remakes, and it's hit-and-miss whether they work (consider Charlie's Angels, Dallas, 90210, Melrose Place and Sherlock - but more on the latter to come in the next panel). B&B's broadcast network, The CW, is giving the show the best possible chance, placing it in the plum Thursday night slot following the ever-popular Vampire Diaries, and the presence of network fave Kreuk is sure to be a draw.
We'll get the first real feel for the series in this session, which will include a full screening of the pilot as well as a Q&A with the cast and crew.
Note that all times in this live blog are Pacific, which is eight hours behind UK time and three hours behind East Coast.
4.34pmAnother plug for social media wankery as the panel comes to an end. Join me in a few minutes for the panel for new Sherlock series Elementary!
4.33pmFinal question. When does the show start? Beast: "We start shooting at the end of the month and then go through to December." Series premiere is October 11.
4.32pmSimilarities to Smallville role: "Catherine is emotionally restricted, in a way which Lana wasn't. She was very vulnerable. It's a very good flip for me."
4.31pmA little girl asks an innocent question that leads to Kreuk hinting that she might have been a prostitute once.
4.29pmAs for Beastie: "There was a huge physical element to it, especially when he transforms into the beast. I use every muscle in my body... no, not every muscle. The physicality of the beast in the series can be explored a lot more. Have him jumping up a wall, with Catherine in his arms."
4.28pmKreuk on whether she drew on the original series: "I did not. I think it's important we look at what these guys are creating [now]. I've only seen a bit of the original series, but she's Linda Hamilton and she's amazing. I don't think I could compare myself to her or be like her."
4.28pmAny other Smallville guest appearances planned? Kreuk: "Wouldn't that be great? Maybe some of them would do it. I dunno." Souders: "All of them are really great characters. Maybe we should send some cupcakes."
4.26pmAudience Q&A time. How will B&B stand out from other procedurals? Cooper: "This procedural show is really a character procedural show. We're not all about the twists and turns but what's about going on emotionally with our characters."
4.26pmAppleby on whether other Beasts are out there: "Perhaps, but for now we're focusing on Vincent (Beast)." Beast would quite like a female Beast. What a horny Beast!
4.25pmTonally after the pilot, Levin: "There's so many ingredients in the show - the romance, the mythology and the procedurtal. Some episodes are going to be dark, like the pilot, and others lighter. It's going to vary from episode to episode. Sherri and I really like writing funny stuff so hopefully it won't all get cut out!"
4.25pmHow physical is the beast? Beast: "The idea with the pilot is less is more, so we have room to move through the series. We're going to look into how beastly this guy is... how high he can jump and so on."
4.24pmKreuk: "The two of them really are ultimately partners. They're going to help each other... they both have incredible struggles that are going to keep them from being together."
4.23pmSouders on when Beast and Beauty will seal the deal: "Kristin and Jay have great chemistry on screen together, so obviously that comes across. But there's a lot to their mythology that's going to make it difficult for them to come together."
4.22pmPeterson on serialised element of show: "We're kind of fighting that battle right now. We have some pretty great mythology arcs. In every episode we move the characters forward, both romantically and mythologically."
4.21pmCooper on similarities to the '80s series: "All the romance is still there. It's a procedural. At its heart, we have three exec producers from the original show, but it's a different [show] - we figured out a new origin story."
4.20pmBeast was not wooed with cupcakes of any kind.
4.20pmBeast was not wooed with cupcakes of any kind.
4.19pmLevin on ABC's rival B&B project (now abandoned) which also competed for Kreuk's signature: "We wooed her with cupcakes. We met her and wanted her badly, so we drove to her agent's office with cupcakes. We thought 'what are we doing?' But it worked, she's so easy."
4.18pmBeastie on the lack of his mullet: "The Beast creation is still in development from the pilot. He's not a lion. Ours is obviously a result of a military experiment so it's more of a chemical imbalance in his body."
4.17pmKreuk on a Matrix-style fight scene on the New York subway (the best part of the episode): "My character is very capable. It's important to her not to be a victim, especially after her mum was killed in front of her."
4.16pmOut come exec producers Jennifer Levin and Sherri Cooper, followed by Beastie Ryan, Beauty Kreuk and exec producers Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson.
4.15pmPilot screening over. Well, it was alright I suppose, fairly unthrilling. 6/10 at best.
3.33pmMore from me in a bit!
3.32pmMeantime, you can watch this extended trailer:
3.31pmThis is described as an "updating" of the 80s series. Anyway, we're about to watch the pilot which means I have to go quiet for a while.
3.30pmThe panel's moderator, Dalton Ross of EW, comes out and invites everyone to check in on 'GetGlue' and follow the writers of the show on Twitter. This is so new media, so new age. All we need now is a QR code on this guy's head.
3.28pmStill to come after this, we've a panel for Elementary, the new Sherlock ripoff retelling from CBS, then closing up with the day's biggie: Dexter.
3.25pmA surprisingly large number of people have evacuated the room after the pineapple gang swanned off the stage. Clearly not in the mood for a bit of beauty-beast action.
3.23pmSo here I am, live and direct from Ballroom 20. I've just endured an hour of the Psych panel, so spare a thought for my temperament right now.
