First things first, even whether it really didn’t reply any questions, the return of “Mad Men” last night was simply sensational. We’re still waiting to see what Peggy did with that pesky baby, but the new domestic arrangement within Don and Bertie and her encounters with the party girl and the mechanic were just wicked fun.

And while I did go see “X-Files: I Want to Believe” that weekend (scroll back one post for my rather lukewarm review), it’s all about ComicCon here today (even though, of course, I’m not lucky ample to be there) and more specifically about some of my favorite shows. (But I do plus get movie dispatches from the floor from Movie Mom Nell Minow, who just loves to geek it up, so I’ll share anything she has to pass along too.)

First up is “Pushing Daisies,” which I’d have to signal my favorite show that falls into the odd category of fairy tale. Showrunner Bryan Fuller apparently teased lucky audience members that the show may soon do an all-musical episode (I know it’s been done before, but so what), but as for the facts, they are these:

- The sometimes funny David Arquette will be joining the cast as Ned’s new buddy.

- There will be kiddie versions of Olive and Emerson to go along with young Ned and young Chuck.

- Chuck moves out of Ned’s place and into Olive’s - “And there’s a bit of a catfight,” says Anna Friel.

- Chuck’s aunts (Ellen Greene and Swoosie Kurtz) come to the Pie gap and complicate Ned’s life.

- Olive and Lily (Kurtz) find themselves in a nunnery … with a pig.

- The character Mary Ann Marie Beetle, apparently seen in the “Muffin Buffalo” episode of Fuller’s canceled Fox series “Wonderfalls,” will seem in a crossover episode.

I didn’t have the sense to watch “Wonderfalls” before it was canceled so quickly,

but I can’t wait to see the rest of what Fuller has in store for us that fall. In the meantime, enjoy that ComicCon clip of the great Kristen Chenoweth belting out a little “Somewhere by the Rainbow.”

“The Office”

Why would you want to prepare out me try and predict what’s going to happen on TV’s second-best comedy (after only “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) when you can see what the fine folks who toil there had to say at ComicCon? Here, in two takes, are Ryan, Kelly and a bunch of other players (including “Freaks and Geeks” vet Paul Feig, I believe, who’s taking a big role in directing/writing season 4.)

Returning to “Heroes”

Though “Heroes” was one of the few shows that managed to cobble together something approaching a full season during the writers’ strike, I can’t say it was a terribly satisfying one. Despite the very welcome addition of Kristen Bell, they just gave way too short shrift to Hiro’s adventures in Japan and spent way too much date with the simply boring Maya and Alejandro.

That said, things really started to pick up there at the end, and I’m rather excited for the return of Tim Kring’s show for Vol. 3 that fall. Here’s a Q&A with some cast members from ComicCon to get you back in the “Heroes” groove:

And finally, some Pixar

And what’s better to brighten up a dreary Monday than a teaser look at Pixar’s next flick, “Up.” With Ed Asner providing the voice of septuagenarian superhero Carl Fredricksen, I have my doubts that that one will be as wildly creative as “Ratatouille” or “Wall-E,” but I still don’t expect Pixar to deliver anything that won’t at least be lots of fun in 2009. Enjoy the teaser trailer for “Up,” and have a perfectly bearable Monday. Peace out.

Original post by Reel Fanatic