If I go to Comic-Con next year (really that should read "When I go to Comic-Con next year"), I will be live blogging to no end. This year I tested the waters with live tweeting for some panels I attended. If you would like to go back and read some of the nuggets of info I pulled you can find me @suzieqjenny. As a kind of recap of this year's festivities, and a precursor to the types of posts I will have here in the future I thought I'd talk a little bit about what ruled at Comic-Con this year, TV.
This was my fifth year attending Comic-Con and, as what drove me to the Con my first year, the television panels were the main event. For those of you unfamiliar with the inner workings of Comic-Con panels are hosted in about 18 rooms, the two biggest being Hall H and Ballroom 20. Hall H holds about 6,500 people while Ballroom 20 holds between 4,200-4,400 people. Typically the big movie studios host their panels in Hall H due to the amount of people looking forward to a sneak peak and more information on the big, blockbuster movies being released throughout the next year. Ballroom 20 has been reserved for the bigger television programs. It is also where I tend to spend most of my time due to my love of television.
Throughout the years I've noticed that some of TV shows are more popular than others and if you are interested in seeing the panel for one of those popular shows the best thing to do is get in line early for Ballroom 20 and spend the day there. The neat (and not so neat) thing about Comic-Con is that they don't clear the room between events. So once you're in the room you're in for the day, as long as you don't leave. If you do need to leave for any reason you can get what I call a "bathroom pass" for the panel. You just have to return back to the room before the panel is over. For me this has worked out in past years so I can see very popular panels like True Blood. (Being in the room all day has made me very familiar with some USA shows that I don't watch. I do enjoy the panels though.)
This year The line for Ballroom 20 was insane. Always. In past years the line would extend outside and be long enough that people couldn't get in. This year that line of people who couldn't get into the room in the afternoon extended far beyond the length I had ever seen. It was even longer than the line in morning before anyone has entered the room. As I said, they don't clear the rooms so some people were in there in the morning for a panel that might start at 3 or 4pm. With the amazing shows on TV nowadays I understand the need to try and wait in line. From what I heard some of the most popular panels this year were: The Walking Dead, True Blood, and Game of Thrones. I'm sure their were a ton more, but those were the ones I heard about. I know two people were in line for HOURS to see The Game of Thrones panel and only got in because they each knew someone who could sneak them past the line into the room. As this craziness for Ballroom 20 was going on, and thousands of people were turned away from panels, the line for Hall H would fluctuate from super long to non-existent and people could just walk in.
Sunday was even more interesting since they closed Ballroom 20 and had all of the TV panels in Hall H. The line was incredibly long most of the morning as the first three panels were for Glee, Supernatural, and Doctor Who (all three very popular shows). The staff of Comic-Con underestimated the popularity of these panels and they removed the last section of chairs from the room, causing about 2,000 people to stand in the back.
It will be very interesting to see if next year some of the more popular TV panels are moved to Hall H. I think the lines and number of people turned away are telling of the current entertainment landscape. I would say that we are a time when TV is producing material that is quality beyond what film is putting out there. Personally, I haven't been to the movies much in the past couple of years because I feel that the films released just aren't worth the $13 I would have to pay. The quality of TV shows we are seeing from cable stations is pushing network TV to strive to a higher level. Hopefully this will rub off on the film industry and we will be spared Transformers 4. If it doesn't then I hope Comic-Con takes note and gives the quality television shows the venue they deserve so the creative staff of those shows can truly see the fan support that is out there for them.
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