Networks and cable show a variety of series at Comic-Con
Posted by Lorrie Lynch
TV personallities and the shows they star in have become as much a part of Comic-Con as comic books. ABC’s Lost panel is a favorite, and our Brian Truitt recalls that last year when fans arrived up to an hour early for a Heroes presentation they found a line that zigged and zagged outside of the the convention center to neighboring hotels. This year, there are plenty of stars and networks are rolling out dramas, sitccoms, returning and new.. Click read more for a rundown.
Photos courtesy of NBC, Warner Bros. Television Group
ABC’s Lost presentation likely will be more popular than ever because the coming season is the final one. ABC promises a surprise guest, maybe Evangeline Lilly or Josh Holloway?
One former (and maybe still current) Lostie, Elizabeth Mitchell (at left), will definitely be at the convention for V, the revamp of the classic 1980s series about a secret invasion of Earth by aliens, alongside co-stars Scott Wolf and Morena Baccarin. (ABC will also be screening the pilot.) Three other new fall shows with be showcased, too: Eastwick, with Rebecca Romjin and Lindsay Price; Flash Forward, featuring stars Joseph Fiennes and John Cho; and The Middle, a sitcom starring Patricia Heaton.
Keifer Sutherland will be in the house (or the ballroom, as it were) for Fox’s 24, with new co-stars Katee Sackhoff, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Anil Kapoor (Slumdog Millionaire). Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse narrowly avoided cancellation, but you wouldn’t know that by the two-hour panel it has lined up, complete with a screening of the never-before-seen Epitaph One episode and a Q&A with Whedon and his star, fanboy fave Eliza Dushku. I’m looking forward to a panel for the new drama Human Target, based on the comic book and starring Mark Valley and Jackie Earle Haley. The Bones presentation will highlight the duo of Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz, Fringe returns for a second year with its three regulars (Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv and John Noble), and Fox will have panels for The Simpsons and the Emmy-nominated Family Guy. A pleasant surprise at the event, the creators of Glee, the network’s fall musical comedy, will show a new full episode to fans (the first one ran in May) and show off their stars — Matthew Morrison, Lea Michele and Cory Monteith. Heroes returning stars such as Masi Oka and Zachary Quinto will share the stage with newcomers Ray Park and Robert Knepper. The Chuck team is bringing Zachary Levi and the whole Nerd Herd to tout its third season. CBS' panel for the equally nerd-friendly sitcom The Big Bang Theory offers Emmy-nominee Jim Parsons and other members of the ensemble cast, and Jennifer Love Hewitt will be the star of a Ghost Whisperer presentation. The CW is screening the pilot of its new supernatural drama The Vampire Diaries with stars (at left) Ian Somerhalder, Nina Dobrev and Paul Wesley, and will also have its Comic-Con regulars, Smallville and Supernatural.
The cable networks also have a large stake in convention goings-on: Showtime will have Michael C. Hall, Julie Benz and John Lithgow for its Dexter panel; HBO’s True Blood will be a popular destination, with Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer; AMC could have a hit with The Prisoner, a reimagining of the classic series with Jim Caviezel; USA Network is bringing B-movie legend Bruce Campbell for Burn Notice and the stars of Psych, James Roday and Dule Hill; and the newly renamed Syfy has panels for Warehouse 13, its Battlestar Galactica spinoffs The Plan and Caprica, and Stargate Universe.
Comments (1)
I missed the Heroes train, but I loved Prison Break, Robert Knepper's previous haunt. For anyone who missed PB, Knepper's T-Bag is the best villain that I have seen since probably Hannibal Lecter. I might try to catch up on Heroes to see if his next villain is as awesome as his last. I also read that Kiefer Sutherland punched him out years ago when he was going to quit acting. How great would it be to see the two of them together?