One of the chief highlights of the recent TV critics press tour was a visit to the deliciously surreal set of “Pushing Daisies.” Out of all the strike-shortened shows that are “relaunching” in the fall, I’m probably most excited about this one.

It was a blast checking out the Pie Hole, the Aunts’ house and other sets on the Warner Bros. lot and I’ll have some interviews and info as we get closer to the premiere date.

But to tide you over, I offer up this Season 2 trailer of “Pushing Daisies” that debuted at Comic-Con. It comes courtesy of “The Piemaker” fansite. It looks like this delirious show will be sending a lot of fun our way.

It’s amazing how much the networks are embracing online video these days. NBC sent camera crews down to Comic-Con in San Diego and is making available extensive clips from the NBC-related panels there.

Some of them are snoozers, to tell the truth. But for someone who has never been to the pop-cultural circus that is Comic-Con, they give you a little feel for the madness and what the panel discussions are like.

We’ll try to share some of this in coming days. What we have here is a look at the “Heroes” panel. Unfortunately, not included is the season-opening episode that attendees got to see.

Hey, no fair. My bosses spend lots of money to send me to the TV critics tour, where NBC had almost no footage for us to preview. Then, just a couple days later at Comic-Con the fans get to see the entire first episode of the new season of “Heroes”! I see how we rate.

Of course, “Heroes” creator (and Pittsburg native) Tim Kring is hoping those fans become his disciples and spread the word. “Go back and talk about it and say it’s better than ever,” he told his unpaid flacks.

For more details, including some Season 3 scoopage, check out the report from Entertainment Weekly.

The Comic-Con extravaganza kicked off in San Diego with a preview night on Wednesday, during which Fox gave fans their first look at “Fringe,” the sci-fi thriller from J.J. Abrams.

If the report from Entertainment Weekly’s Vanessa Juarez is any indication, J.J. and his pals might be in for a little reality check. Juarez reports that, “after the opening sequence, in which a man on an international flight infects all the passengers with some sort of grisly, flesh-eating plague that leaves behind only their skeletal remains when the plane lands on autopilot at Boston’s Logan Airport, the audience was mostly subdued …” Read the rest of this entry »