“Dexter” revealed a secret at Comic-Con.
Showtime unleashed the first two minutes from the serial-killing drama’s upcoming seventh season at a Comic-Con presentation Thursday.
The scene picked right up right where the sixth season ended, with Jennifer Carpenter’s Deb discovering Michael C. Hall’s Dexter standing over the body of the Doomsday Killer.
In the scene — spoiler alert! — the forensic analyst attempts to explain the awkward circumstance to his apprehensive police officer sister. She doesn’t understand why the body is wrapped in plastic. The moment abruptly ends when Deb calls for backup and Dexter seemingly lunges toward her.
Does the undercover killer think his sister buys his story?
“He hopes so in that moment,” said Mr. Hall, who was on hand at Thursday’s panel with Ms. Carpenter.
“She’s taking it one step at a time,” added a coy Ms. Carpenter.
Yvonne Strahovski, who will be guest starring with Mr. Hall and Ms. Carpenter in the seventh season, also attended the Comic-Con presentation, but she couldn’t divulge much about her role. She only offered up her character’s name, Hanna, and that she’s a “woman of mystery with a dark past.”
“She meets Dexter and helps him with an investigation into an old murder mystery,” the former “Chuck” star revealed.
The seventh season of “Dexter” premieres Sept. 30.
’Community’s’ new producers say they won’t ’screw it up’
Despite a shake-up in the administration, the cast and crew of “Community” assured fans at Comic-Con that the show isn’t changing.
Friday morning’s “Community” panel at the pop-culture convention was the first opportunity for the NBC comedy’s cast and crew to address fans since the show’s creator, Dan Harmon, was replaced as show runner by new executive producers David Guarascio and Moses Port.
Mr. Port told the crowd that the cult comedy about a wacky community college study group would continue to be a “weird, wonderful gem.”
“We are fans of the show first and observed it from afar,” said Mr. Port, who previously worked with Mr. Guarascio on ABC’s “Happy Endings.”
“We’re not gonna screw it up,” added Mr. Guarascio.
“Community” cast members Joel McHale, Alison Brie, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi and Yvette Nicole Brown were on hand for the panel, while their colleagues Donald Glover, Jim Rash, Ken Jeong and Chevy Chase were not.
Earlier this year, a clash between Mr. Chase and Mr. Harmon became public when Mr. Harmon released voicemails from the actor. Mr. Chase said in one message that “Community” was a “mediocre sitcom” that was “not my kind of comedy.”
Mr. Harmon later apologized on his Tumblr page for sharing the voicemails.
About 5,000 people packed into a San Diego Convention Center ballroom for Friday’s panel.
“We may not win Emmys or even be nominated for them, but we win every fan poll, and that is because of you guys,” a beaming Ms. Jacobs told the crowd.
The writers and producers teased that the upcoming fourth season would see the study group venturing into the zany mansion of Mr. Chase’s Pierce and to a convention for “Inspector Space Time,” the show’s beloved “Doctor Who” parody. Mr. Port also said “Community” would again feature “a little inventive animation.”
The ratings-challenged show is moving to Fridays when the fourth season premieres Oct. 19.
’Modern Family’ star helps open dog park
It’s a good time to be a dog if you’re in the Birmingham, Ala., suburb of Alabaster.
A star of ABC-TV’s “Modern Family” series, Eric Stonestreet, was in the Shelby County city on Thursday to help introduce a $500,000 dog park that opened at a city park.
The dog park was funded with a grant from Beneful dog food. It includes agility hoops, a path with tunnels, a field for playing fetch, water sprays for cooling off on hot days, and a wash station.
On Thursday, dogs ran around on the grass, chased after balls and slurped up water at a fountain.
“This park is just tremendous for the city of Alabaster,” said Jenny Wilson, who won a design contest for the dog park. “It will bring pet owners and pets together. It just creates a wonderful community feel for pets to be celebrated and for pet owners to really form wonderful relationships with the [community] and with their pets. It’s a wonderful gift.”
The canine attraction was built on a section of the 90-acre Veteran’s Park in Alabaster.
DIY network’s “Desperate Landscapes” will air an episode shot at the new dog park.
The Emmy Award-winning Mr. Stonestreet has a dog of his own, a 12-year-old rescue animal named Coleman Hawkins.
’American Idol’ winner’s first single is certified gold
Phillip Phillips’ first single “Home” has gone gold, marking sales in excess of 500,000 units — 523,477 to be exact, according to management and publishing company Pulse Recordings, which represents the song’s co-writer and producer Drew Pearson. This week alone, it sold more than 27,000 copies.
Not your hopelessly sappy coronation number, “Home” was chosen by “American Idol” mentor Jimmy Iovine, who “heard it and loved it, and that was it,” Mr. Pearson told the Hollywood Reporter on the show’s season finale.
Released by Interscope, the Dave Matthews-esque song, co-written with British singer-songwriter Greg Holden, immediately set an “American Idol” record by selling more than 278,000 downloads in its first week, surpassing David Cook’s single, “The Time of My Life,” which moved 236,000 in 2008.
Not that there are any hard feelings. The same day Pulse tweeted the latest numbers, Mr. Phillips apparently was enjoying some barbecue with the Cook family in Kansas City, Mo. The season-seven winner, meanwhile, was half a world away in the Philippines.
Mr. Phillips is a week into the Idol summer tour and performed with the Top 10 on July 12 at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.
Typically, achieving gold certification is marked with a plaque presentation (as season-10 winner Scotty McCreery experienced in October 2011 with “I Love You This Big”). No word yet on when — or where — the celebration will take place.
• Compiled from Web and wire reports.
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