For the fourth straight year, I’m in San Diego to partake in the annual geek call-to-arms that is Comic-Con. It’s a singular experience, with 130,000 people expected to converge to be among the first to see what’s going to be hot in pop culture in the coming year. Increasingly, that has included TV shows, which seem to develop the die-hard loyal audiences that movie studios so desperately crave. You see stories just about every year now about how a movie that made a big splash at Comic-Con (Watchmen, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) didn’t fare as well in general release. But the TV audience tends to stick.
I won’t be able to make every panel, seeing as I don’t have any superpowers of my own, but it won’t be for lack of trying. Here then are the 10 TV-related panels that I’m most looking forward to covering (or at least hearing about from some other lucky souls) in the coming days:
Beavis and Butt-head (Thursday)
After going out and gaining respectability as the mastermind behind the long-running animated sitcom King of the Hill and the cult comedy Office Space, Mike Judge is set to return to the show that finally recognized the artistry behind sitting on your couch and making fun of dumbass music videos. Most people didn’t notice, having a hard time getting beyond the “huh-huh” and “fire!” catch phrases, but Beavis and Butt-head also contained some solid, and in their own way, poignant moments exposing our teenage wasteland. Judge is going to show footage from some new episodes and explain why now was the right time to resurrect the dunderheaded duo.
Game of Thrones (Thursday)
A staple at Comic-Con is the staggering number of (mostly) female attendees who come decked out in Princess Leia’s slave costume from Return of the Jedi. While I don’t expect that to change this year, I do suspect a new getup to give Slave Leia a run for her metal bikini. Daenerys Targaryen of Game of Thrones emerged as a huge fan favorite, and, let’s not be dense, could be described as pleasing to the eye. I love Slave Leia as much as the next guy, but change is good, right? Beyond that, this sure-to-be-packed panel confirms that it’s a great time to be a fan of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire epic. Not only was the HBO series based on it a huge hit, but the fifth book in the series, A Dance With Dragons, has walloped the best-seller list since its release last week. Extra sweet is the fact that Martin himself will be moderating the panel. I hope the carpets in Ballroom 20 can soak up all the geek drool. Daenerys herself, actress Emilia Clarke, will be able to judge all the lookalikes for herself, along with a bevy of her costars, including Emmy nominee Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Kit Harington, and soon-to-be Conan the Barbarian Jason Momoa. Series creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss also will be on hand.
Penn & Teller Tell a Lie (Thursday)
The truth-obsessed illusionists (which would be a great name for a band) are back with a different, less-profanely titled series than their last show, Penn & Teller: Bull@#$%, which recently concluded an eight-season run on Showtime. They’ll be back on Discovery Channel this fall, spinning a bunch of amazing, hard-to-believe stories, and viewers have to decide which one in fact isn’t true. The show sounds just fine, but what really has me excited is the chance to get some one-on-one face time with the guys. My mind is blown at the thought of seeing Teller actually speak. I also might have to sneak in a question (good-naturedly, of course) as to why Penn would name his daughter Moxie CrimeFighter.
Batman 45th Anniversary (Friday)
Adam West, Burt Ward and Julie Newmar will be together to commemorate the daffy superhero series’ 45th anniversary. Hot topics are sure to include whether there was any rivalry among the many actresses who played Catwoman, Cesar Romero’s mustache, and what Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson really did behind closed doors.
Locke & Key (Friday)
You won’t see this show on FOX this fall. In fact, you won’t see it anywhere. The pilot for a series based on the Joe Hill (son of Stephen King) comic book series features a great cast, including Nick Stahl, Miranda Otto, Sarah Bolger, Jesse McCartney, but did not get picked up by the network. The producers are bringing it to the people anyway, perhaps hoping to build enough buzz that maybe, just maybe, another network will see fit to pick it up. It doesn’t seem to be a likely scenario, but if it does work out, it would be one of the most tangible examples yet of the power of Comic-Con.
Spartacus: Vengeance (Friday)
This will be my third go-round with the ballsy sword-and-sandals series, which has had to deal with a great amount of drama behind the scenes during its brief run. Star Andy Whitfield had to take a leave following the successful first season to fight Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, so the producers concocted a prequel series — Gods of the Arena — which focused on the gladiator school and let characters like Lucy Lawless’ Lucretia come to the forefront. But just before production could begin on Season 2, Whitfield suffered a recurrence of the disease and had to bow out permanently. A replacement was found in Aussie actor Liam McIntyre, who certainly has a big codpiece to fill. Everyone involved in Spartacus genuinely seems to be having a good time, and the mixture of cast members from each season should make this one entertaining panel.
Alcatraz (Saturday)
The best pilot I’ve seen during our Fall Preview rush is unfortunately not scheduled to premiere until midseason. Executive producer J.J. Abrams’ latest is a nifty sci-fi conspiracy caper that uses the famous San Francisco bay prison as a backdrop. The history we’ve been fed, of all the prisoners being transferred from the island in 1963, is apparently not the whole story. In truth, they mysteriously disappeared, but one has shown up in the present day and is a suspect in a murder. Jorge Garcia (Lost), Sarah Jones (Sons of Anarchy) are great in the lead roles, while Robert Forster and Sam Neill are as reliably good as ever. Unlike most series, Alcatraz seems to have found its footing right away, and I fully expect the crowd to already be fans.
Fringe (Saturday)
One of the great things about this job is the chance to see so many TV shows from the very beginning. The truth is, though, whether it’s because of the sheer volume of content out there or simple fatigue, I don’t always follow through on watching shows — even when I like them — after my stories are filed. I remember writing three different stories for Treme when it premiered, and loving the pilot, but I haven’t been a regular watcher since midway through Season 1. But with Fringe, the pilot for which was the very first thing I ever saw at Comic-Con, I’ve remained a loyal viewer. That’s not to say the trippy sci-fi series hasn’t had its slow spots or missteps along the way, but once the writers decided to focus on the show’s dense mythology — parallel universes fighting a winner-takes-all battle for survival — each week has become essential viewing. And now with last season’s ultimate cliffhanger, which appears to be an opportunity to reboot the entire series, minus one lead character, the question on everyone’s mind is whether Fringe has jumped the shark or if it is simply about to embark on its next mind-bending odyssey. Adding to the intrigue is the notable absence of star Joshua Jackson from the panel, which includes costars Anna Torv, John Noble, Lance Reddick, Blair Brown and Jaskika Nicole. Hmmmm …
FX Pilot Sneak Peek Screening (Saturday)
The network is being coy with what show it is going to preview for the Comic-Con audience, but my guess is it’s Ryan Murphy’s latest American Horror Story, which stars Connie Britton, Dylan McDermott and Jessica Lange. Sign me up.
Terra Nova (Saturday)
There’s speculation in the office — I’m pretty sure it’s tongue-in-cheek — that the long-delayed Terra Nova will never actually air. Originally slated for last year, it’s been talked about at so many events like Comic-Con and the biannual Television Critics Association Press Tour that it’s started to invite Chinese Democracy jokes from cynical, jaded TV writers. Not me, of course. I would never stoop so low as to joke that Axl Rose called up producer Steven Spielberg and asked him just what the hell was taking him so long finishing Terra Nova. No, sir. It’d be nice if Spielberg decided to crash the panel, since he’ll be there anyway for a marquee panel about The Adventures of Tintin. Whenever a show is delayed, one of the immediate reactions from the public is that the writing must be bad, or the actors just aren’t working out. The company line for Terra Nova, however, has been that the visual effects are so extravagant that they just needed the extra time. The geek audience may very well accept this, but I fully expect some tough questioning during the Q&A.
Photo: © 2011 Fox Broadcasting Co. CR: Kharen Hill/FOX
