Emmy nominees campaign at Comic-Con

(AFP/GABRIEL BOUYS)

The movie studios are out in full force at Comic-Con, July 22-25, in San Diego to promote upcoming superhero, sci-fi and fantasy films with stars to dazzle the audiences, but television shows will also be on panels presenting their seasonal fare.

With the Emmy Awards on August 29 only about a month away, nominees will attend Comic-Con to win viewers. The presentations will not be courting voters - but program executives and actors will seek to create attention at the event with fans, which could in turn attract Emmy votes.

Among the television presentations at Comic-Con, the Emmy nominees present include eerie detective procedural Dexter and the musical hit Glee.

HBO's hit vampire show, True Blood, an Emmy nominee for Outstanding Drama Series, will present a panel with show creator Alan Ball with stars Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer, with other cast members. Also, Charlaine Harris, the author of the Southern Vampire Mysteries book series the show is based on, will be interviewed at a session. And True Blood will sponsor Comic-Con's annual Masquerade Ball Saturday night.
"Comic-Con is not part of an Emmy campaign, but for a certain kind of show you can't ignore those fans," a network executive told TheWrap. "And if the buzz you can get down there comes at the right time for Emmy voting, so much the better."

Television series like Lost and The Simpsons have appeared at Comic-Con for years and tributes to classic shows for Comic-Con fanboys will include The Twilight Zone, Star Trek and the SyFy Channel's hit Battlestar Galactica.

Dexter will be the focus of a Thursday panel. The star Michael C. Hall (favored to win), will appear with the stars of David Duchovny's Californication and Mary-Louise Parker's Weeds on a Friday panel subtitled "The Anti-Heroes of Showtime."

Glee, nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series and 18 other awards, will offer a look at the second season. Several cast members will be on hand with creators Ryan Murphy (director of the upcoming Eat Pray Love, starring Julia Roberts) and Brad Falchuk for a Q&A.

Other Emmy-nominated television shows attending Comic-Con include nerd sitcom The Big Bang Theory, reality show MythBusters, and, a slew of sci-fi series - Caprica, V and SGU Stargate Universe, Chuck - and Robot Chicken with creator/actor Seth Green.

http://www.comic-con.org

RC