Christian Slater

Day three of WonderCon had me sitting down with the cast of Breaking In, the upcoming comedy from Fox premiering April 6 at 9:30 p.m. Airing after American Idol, the show is bound to do pretty well for itself, but I think it's the funny characters, hilarious situations, and total geek cred that will make the show a hit. Christian Slater (who needs no introduction), Odelle Annable (Cloverfield), Bret Harrison (V), and Alphonso McAuley (Pride) star, and after talking with them about working together, office comedies, and tech toys, I found five reasons geeks should tune in. Check it out below.

• The writers — The writers of Breaking In are totally legit in their geek cred. Adam F. Goldberg wrote Fanboys and Revenge of the Nerds among others, while Seth Gordon directed such nerdy films as The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, and lent his geeky touch to episodes of The Office and Modern Family. So you know all those geek culture references you find riddled inside the Breaking In trailer are coming from the right place.
• Geek culture nuggets — Breaking In is about a high-tech security firm that uses all kinds of technology — from computer software to gadgets — to make clients more secure. Of course, they "test" a client's current security systems by hacking in first, which sets the stage for lots of gadget and tech references. But more than that, there's even an episode where the team has to deliver a copy of (fictional) "Goonies 2: The Legend of Sloth" to a ComicCon like event. Costumes are donned, hilarity ensues, it's sure to entertain.

See the rest of the list after the jump.

I already gave you a sneak peek at Fox's Breaking In during the Winter TCAs, but let's take a closer look at the show by examining its very first episode. For my latest pilot scoop, here are a few of the comedy's pros and cons.

• What it's about: Cameron Price (Bret Harrison) is your typical college slacker with Van Wilder syndrome. Even with seven years of schooling under his belt, he'd much rather pull pranks and hack into teachers' emails instead of actually graduating. But once high-tech security firm Contra Security hears about Cameron's talents, it's only a matter of time before they come calling. Boss Oz (Christian Slater) literally breaks into Cameron's dorm room and takes him under his wing as an intern at the company, which attempts extreme heists (think stealing cars) to win over clients.
• Where it works: Harrison is just as charming here as he was on Reaper, and several of the quirky secondary characters show promise (I'm particularly a fan of the hovering office secretary Carol and Smallville's Michael Rosenbaum as sophomoric dimwit, Dutch).
• Where it doesn't: The script's jokes and vocabulary often try too hard, i.e., "douche-icle" instead of cubicle and "multi-assing" instead of multitasking. Groan. Odette Yustman seems like a miscast as the requisite love interest/bad girl, and for the first five minutes of the pilot, Christian Slater appears to be doing a Jack Nicholson impression, complete with dark sunglasses and cigar.
• Am I hooked? I wasn't in the beginning, but the show picks up steam further into the pilot. I'll probably give it at least one more go before I make a final judgment call.
• When is it on? Wednesday, April 6 at 9:30 p.m. on Fox.

Watch a preview clip after the jump.

I've seen lots of new faces so far at the Winter TCA, but a familiar face popped up on the tour for his brand-new show: Christian Slater! The actor is leading the ensemble of Breaking In, a quirky comedy from Fox about a high-tech security firm called Contra. Slater held court on stage with his costars and the showrunners, who talked about the show's group of geeky-but-chic characters.

• What brings star Slater to the comedy series? The actor said he's a big fan of half-hour comedies and called himself a goofball. Meanwhile, he had lots of excitement about his character Oz, the security firm's leader. Though Oz is sort of a manipulative charmer, Slater described him as quirky and eccentric, someone who "likes to stir things up" and "knows what the outcomes will be right from the start."
• Bret Harrison, who's also on V (but may be best known from Reaper), plays one of the geekier members of the Contra team, but he sounds like he's also the most brilliant: Harrison says he's "like a young Mark Zuckerberg."
• Odette Yustman (fun fact: she appeared in Kindergarten Cop when she was five) may be gorgeous, but her character Melanie is also very much a geek, but she assured everyone that she is definitely "the coolest geek." When asked if she felt that she had to prove that she can be funny, given how strikingly beautiful she is, Yustman said that she's just happy she's been given this opportunity, calling comedy "a passion of mine."
• Need another reason to watch? The director, Seth Gordon Green, is also responsible for one of my favorite documentaries: The King of Kong. He definitely knows something about cool geeks!

Keep reading BuzzSugar for more from the Winter TCA all week long!

Matthew McConaughey took a break from playing in China's Mission Hills Star Trophy tournament this evening to attend a red carpet event with Camila Alves. He's spent the last few days golfing with Hugh Grant, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Christian Slater, and Michael Phelps as part of the event, designed to bring celebrities and sports stars together. Matthew's overseas after logging time last weekend with his family in Austin, where his j.k.livin foundation continued to support a group of kids participating in a half marathon. Matthew may be able to share a few running tips with Michael Phelps, who's apparently been getting Subway's Jared Fogle into shape for the upcoming New York City Marathon.

To see more from the golf tournament, just read more

• Mark-Paul Gosselaar will get it on with Nancy during a cameo on Weeds — Watch With Kristin
• Steven Spielberg announces his War Horse cast — Empire Online
• Most random grouping ever: Gary Oldman, Christian Slater, and Dane Cook join Guns, Girls, and Gambling — PopWatch
• Ron Howard to adapt the graphic novel Legends for the big screen — Cinematical
• CSI: Miami axes Eddie Cibrian — Ausiello Files
• Maria Bello and Jason Isaacs will play Taylor Lautner's parents in Abduction — Movieline
• It's official: Danny Boyle will direct the 2012 Olympics — Vulture
• Real Housewife of NY Alex McCord was once on Blind Date. Just watch — Jezebel
• In honor of Father's Day, 10 books about dads and daughters — TresSugar

Longtime fast driving enthusiast and Handsome Men's Club member Patrick Dempsey was on hand yesterday for the Toyota Pro Celebrity Race press day event in Long Beach. He was joined by fellow good looking guys including Keanu Reeves, Adrien Brody, Brian Austin Green and Christian Slater. Chuck's own Zachary Levi was also there fresh from a trip to SF for Wonder-Con to do some of his own stunt work as well as pro-skater Tony Hawk who's no stranger to extreme sports. Patrick's usually seen zooming around LA in one of his own fancy sports cars but yesterday he was doing laps on the track before going head-to-head against the rest of the celebrities during the April 17 race.

More photos of Patrick, Keanu and Adrien if you read more

• Michael Bay reports that Ken Jeong, John Malkovich, and Frances McDormand are in for Transformers 3 — Cinematical
• True Blood preview clip! Who's attacking Eric? — Ausiello Files
• Skins is coming to the big screen — The Playlist
• TV's best cartoons for adults — TV.com
• Hear MGMT's entire new album — Pitchfork
• Fire on the Harry Potter set — E! Online
• Greg Kinnear and Jennifer Connelly join the cast of Salvation Boulevard — Moviefone
• How Geek would wire The Millionaire Matchmaker — GeekSugar
• Christian Slater signs on for a new Fox pilot — The Wrap
• NBC puts the kibosh on Conan O'Brien appearing in Idol Gives Back. Have a heart, NBC! — Inside TV
• Why does Zoe have such a big part in the Lost finale?! And why is the actress giving away so much? — Us Magazine

The red carpet sexiness was just a precursor to the excitement of the People's Choice Awards show. Queen Latifah was once again host for the star-studded evening and kept the clip quick for the two-hour show. Ellen was the night's first winner — check out the full list here! Sacha Baron Cohen finished off the show with a funny presentation to his Sweeney Todd costar and Favorite Movie Actor of the Decade, Johnny Depp. Country sweethearts Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood both walked away with statues and there was no on camera Lautner-Swift run-in. One of the cutest parts of the show was when Inglourious Basterds' Diane Kruger, Eli Roth and BJ Novak announced Lautner's win with cheering. Nicole Kidman sported gloves as she held hands with Keith Urban, who was named Favorite Male Artist, after they posed with Latifah and boy Taylor.

Mariah Carey had to have some help on her way up to the stage to accept for Favorite R&B Artist, and once she and Nick Cannon made it to the press room she was ready to joke about her Palm Springs appearance that had everyone talking, announcing to the press, "Everybody in the club's getting tipsy!" Sandra Bullock got a little emotional accepting one of her awards of the night, but backstage she was all about joking with her fellow-winner and The Proposal castmate Ryan Reynolds. Valentine's Day costars Jessica Alba and Ashton Kutcher posed together backstage after she awarded him the web celeb honors — which he of course streamed live on his Twitter. It was a great night all around, and we're so excited for all the fun and madness coming up all award season long!

LOTS more photos of the show and backstage so read more