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This series had its genesis when I began 麻豆传媒映画area location shoots last summer to get over a long post-Olympics funk. Film and TV productions like This Means War, Mission Impossible 4, Fringe and the new AMC series The Killing showcase our city in similar fashion and sometimes put a celebrity actor or two in the frame. |
How's this for Comic-Con craziness? Twihards starting lining up outside the San Diego Convention Center three days early (on Monday,)聽to be among the six thousand lucky enough to聽get into The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn 1聽panel in Hall H, which took place just before lunchtime today. First thing so that Twihards couldn't ruin Comic-Con like they usually do. What's even more crazy? That the vampires and werewolves聽of the mainly Vancouver-shot Breaking Dawn 1聽aren't the most popular panel聽of the hundreds at Comic-Con 2011. Not even close. That honour belongs to the聽zombies of AMC TV聽series聽The Walking Dead.
Breaking Dawn 1聽isn't even among the most popular of Vancouver-filmed movies and TV series at Comic-Con, which has become less about聽big movies and more about cult television series in recent years. Locally-shot TV series Pscyh cracked the Top 25 most popular panels and聽 Fringe,聽Eureka,聽Supernatural and聽Alcatraz are all聽in the Top 50.聽Breaking Dawn 1聽and Underworld Awakening (the fourth in the movie franchise but only the third to star聽Kate Beckinsale and her vampire cat suit) barely made the Top 50 cut.
Psych presented today聽to聽standing-room-only, people-turned-away capacity, with Psych-os either dressed as pineapples or carrying them. Apparently series star James Roday (seen above directing a vampire-themed episode) improvised with a pineapple in the show's premiere and there's been聽one hidden in every episode since.聽Nominally a detective series, Psych knows how to play to a Comic-Con crowd, with several episodes in its sixth season (now filming in Vancouver) crossing over into genre stuff 聽like vampires, super heroes and Star Trek. In a real casting coup, the original Captain Kirk聽聽 -- William Shatner --聽plays the father of聽one of the main cast in an episode filmed during the Stanley Cup Final games (Shatner was in Rogers Arena聽and got聽caught in the riot afterwards).
Friday聽night hit Fringe, which聽left its fans with a cliffhanger last season when main character Peter Bishop simply ceased to exist, presents Saturday. FOX is promoting聽upcoming season 4 with a sublimal teaser which spells out Where is Peter Bishop? backwards, so it makes sense that the actor who plays him -- our own Joshua Jackson -- will be the only member of the main cast not at the Fringe panel. Jackson (seen above laughing with crew) remains under contract so it's likely he's here in the city this week filming the season opener in the old Terminal City Ironworks compound in east 麻豆传媒映画where the two parallel universes overlapped in last season's twisty finale. Props crew were inside for several days but what they built and what Fringe is filming聽remains a聽secret, as does almost everything about the premiere, except that it's big (Fringe filmed a couple of Observers聽on set).
Compared to Fringe, Syfy series Eureka goes largely unnoticed filming here but its Comic-Con profile is roughly the same. Not bad for a little show that bills its聽Friday presentation as "Small town. Big Panel". Most of the main cast are flying down today after filming in downtown Chilliwack yesterday led by Eureka聽sheriff, good sport and wacky tweeter Colin Ferguson (shown above laughing after doing a stunt).聽Eureka upped its sci-fi cred by promising geek goddess Felicia Day (who plays one of the show's off-the-wall scientists) on聽a panel moderated by occasional series guest star Whil Wheaton (Star Trek: The Next Generation alumnus and Sheldon's nemesis on The Big Bang Theory).
Supernatural presents on Sunday with series star Jensen Ackles expected to give the audience a sneak peek of the season seven episode he directed last week mainly on the North Shore. Co-star Jared Padalecki will also be flying down to San Diego, as will聽Misha Collins,聽 the show's new and apparently bad-ass God. It promises to be a聽raucous Q & A with fans because Collins is no longer a series regular聽and judging聽from photographs taken of him yesterday聽in the Spanish Banks area as his raincoat-wearing character Castiel standing over the bodies of slain angels, he's going out in epic style.
JJ Abram's new series Alcatraz also made the Top 50 of Comic-Con with a Saturday panel where the mainly Vancouver-shot pilot will be screened again (after a sneak peek last night) but this time actors Sarah Jones and Jorge Garcia (Lost's loveable Hurley) will be on hand to answer questions.聽 Filming of the first season doesn't resume here until mid-August as Alcatraz is one of FOX's聽mid-season shows.
Also on Saturday is the panel for聽locally-filmed but rarely-seen-outside-of-studio TV series Sanctuary. It's known for its revolutionary greenscreen filming,聽but series stars Amanda Tapping and Robin Dunne do plan to be at Comic-Con live and in person to represent Vancouver's聽 only all-Canadian show聽at the annual geekfest.
Other new series presenting at Comic-Con (ones that didn't make the Top 50) are ABC's modern fairy tale Once Upon a Time and The CW's coven-of-witches show The Secret Circle, both of which started filming their first seasons here on Tuesday (Once Upon a Time at Kerrisdale School).聽 Their lead female faces聽Jennifer Morrison of Once Upon a Time (shown above signing autographs at The Shore Club during the filming of the pilot)聽and Britt Roberson of The Secret Circle, along with the multiple-character-playing Anna Torv of Fringe (shown above as her alternate universe character Fauxlivia),聽are聽featured in The Hollywood Reporter's "Comic-Con: TV's 6 Most Wanted Women".聽 In the round-table discussion Torv聽acknowledged the importance of Twitter to genre shows and briefly mentioned her own experience of tweeting using the account of one of the show's executive producers (fans created multiple hashtags聽in her honour that day).
Non-genre shows generally don't bother with Comic-Con and it doesn't bother with them so聽Fairly Legal and The Killing are two locally-filmed series which were not聽expected to have a panel or cast in San Diego. But it turns out Fairly Legal star Sarah Shahi聽(seen above on Granville Street) wasn't going to pass up this opportunity to connect with her聽many fan-boys and fan-girls. Over the next four days, the San Diego Convention聽Center is definitely the place to find them.
Update:
Joshua Jackson made a surprise appearance partway through聽the Fringe panel dressed in costume as an Observer. It doesn't answer the question Where is Peter Bishop? but it momentarily answers the question Where is Joshua Jackson?
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