The fall TV season is about to begin with Comic-Con taking place in San Diego this week. We’ll be there capturing the excitement, panels and networks that will be showcasing their cult-successes and new launches. We put together a comprehensive guide on how you can follow TV at Comic-Con this week — and you’ll be stunned by the record showing by the TV industry at the big event.
Last year, we watched how shows like Pan-Am use this major event to capture mindshare leading up to fall TV launches. A social TV strategy isn’t needed for Comic-Con – the greatness of the gathering is that all of the influencers TV networks are trying to reach on the web are already there, many having flown from around the world. Their task is now to offer the right type of content, including sneak peaks, celebrity appearances and kitschy Instagram-able items to get fans talking on the social web.
HBO, a Comic-Con sponsor, is also hosting the Comic-Con Masquerade Saturday night, a party that’s sure to generate some of the best TV character costumes of the week.
Watch Comic-Con on TV:
If you don’t understand the cultural phenomenon that is Comic-Con, watch Morgan Spurlock’s (@MorganSpurlock) documentary on demand, that follows a few fans through 2010’s event. You’ll also be able to watch Comic-Con on TV. G4 will be once again air three days of live programming from San Diego, including access to talent from True Blood, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead and more. Spike TV’s All Access Live will be broadcasting live from San Diego this Friday from 4pm-7pm Eastern. MTV News and MTV Geek will also be providing “wall to wall coverage” but it’s unclear if any of the coverage will show up on broadcast. Here’s a run down of highlights what each network is doing, the Twitter accounts you should be following and random TV events we’ll be attending. VH1’s Top 20 Music Video Countdown will also be taping from Comic-Con and VH1 Celebrity News will be covering on TV and via blog posts.
GetGlue and Warner Brothers TV team up for unique stickers:
GetGlue secured some great partnerships for fall TV last year and now the social TV startup’s getting an early start by teaming up for stickers for WB TV’s most hyped up panels for new TV shows. You can see the full schedule and check-in links here. The ability to get stickers begins all the way at the beginning of Comic-Con during preview night when 666 Park Avenue the new ABC/Alloy show (Alloy created Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars and The Vampire Diaries), Arrow, the new CW show and others will be screened. We’ll be paying very close attention to which new shows will rack up the check-ins as this can for sure be a big help for tune-in, in September. You can follow WBTV at Comic-Con via #WBSDCC.
Nickelodeon (@NickelodeonTV):
After learning about the network the birthed Spongebob on social TV, we couldn’t be more excited for the big events the network has planned. Here are two panels you shouldn’t miss on Friday the 13th.
–The Legend of Korra, this show has a fan base, that’s defined by the top of people that venture to Comic-Con. The show did amazing in the ratings and has a strong presence on Tumblr. The panel on Friday will include co-creators and executive producers Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, Janet Varney (@JanetVarney the voice Korra), David Faustino (@DavidFaustino the voice of Mako), P. J. Byrne (@PJ_Byrne the voice of Bolin), Seychelle Gabriel (@SeychelleGab the voice of Asami) and more.
–Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It’s official, on September 29th the Turtles in a Half Shell will come back to TV and Comic-Con is the stage they will continue to unleash on, on Friday. Even more wonderful are the panelists. Jason Biggs (@JasonBiggs who voices Leonardo), Sean Astin (@SeanAstin who voices Raphael) and Greg Cipes (@GregCipes who voices Michelangelo) and Rob Paulsen (@YakkoPinky who voices Donatello) will be joined by EP Ciro Nieli. There will of course be never-before-seen footage and exclusive posters for those Instagramable-moments.
There will also be a Spongebob panel on Sunday that includes voice actor Tom Kenny. The panel will give a sneak peak at their upcoming Christmas special.
FX (@FXNetworks):
The panel, I’m personally looking forward to the most is Sunday afternoon’s Sons of Anarchy get together. I’m a huge fan of Samcro and an even bigger fan of social media-savvy show creator Kurt Sutter (@SutterInk) who used his social following to up the ratings for his show. Sutter will join cast members Charlie Hunnam (@MrCHunnam), Katey Sagal (@KateyLous), Ron Perlman, Maggie Siff, Kim Coates, Mark Boone Junior, Tommy Flanagan, Theo Rossi (@TheoRossi), Ryan Hurst (@RamboDonkeyKong) and Dayton Callie to discuss the new season with Jimmy Smits and Harold Perrineau (@HaroldPerrineau from Lost and Oz).
Showtime (@SHO_Network):
Last season’s Dexter finale went beyond just a cliff hanger. It appears that in the upcoming season Dexter’s entire world is about to be turned upside down, even more than with Rita. We’ll get the first look at the new season during the network’s Comic-Con panel on Thursday. Michael C. Hall (@Michael_C_Hall, who just started tweeting again), Jennifer Carpenter (@J2thecarpenter), Yvonne Strahovski (@Y_Strahovski) and EPs John Goldwyn, Sara Colleton, Scott Buck, and Manny Coto will be present. It gets better. Homeland EPs Howard Gordon (@HowardMGordon) and Alex Gansa will debut a first look at their new season during the same panel. Showtime has already released a hilariously annoying 15-sec teaser clip for Dexter, which TV Line sliced up here. The network has also announced that they’ll be screening the first two minutes of episode seven at the panel. You can follow the panel via #dexterSDCC.
There will also be a Shameless panel on Saturday that will creatively be using social. “The cast and executive producer discuss how they capture some of their most shameless moments, plus be there when they answer fan-submitted Twitter questions and reveal the Top Five Fan Favorite Moments as voted on by you,” the network described.