Thursday at Comic-Con 2012: Psych, Homeland, and Dexter

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

For the first day of Comic-Con, it went by much faster than last year (and here)! The process of waking up, heading to the convention center, and getting in line for badge pick-up was a little slower than last year, but not a big deal. After that, I cruised the floor, checking out the booths for South Park, Falling Skies, and FOX in particular. But, soon it was time to buckle down for the first serious line of the Con, and it was for Ballroom 20. For a complete rundown of all photos, check out our SmugMug album.

The 2:15pm Thursday panel was for Psych, and each person walking into the room received a pair of sunglasses to commemorate the series.

photo: Amy K. Bredemeyer

Things then started up with a video introduction by a professional wrestler! It was a full panel, with executive producers Chris Henze, Kelly Kulchak, and Steve Franks, and actors James Roday, Dule Hill, Maggie Lawson (loved her dress!), Tim Olmundson, Kirsten Nelson, and Corbin Bernsen. Everyone on the panel was offered pineapple juice alongside the obligatory water, immediately illustrating how committed Psych is to truly offering Comic-Con the show and its talent at their finest. We hear some facts, like how there are 2.4M facebook fans and that it's the #1 twittered show on USA (even though James Roday doesn't have a Twitter account). We hear about the 100th episode, see random poses of Dule sleeping everywhere they go, and even get to listen to James and Dule sing "Boom from the Bottom." Of course, there were some other surprises as well, like Dule's mom calling and him putting her on speaker to the microphone. Yes, this seriously happened. Tim also had the audience give a shout-out to his cousin, a military man who will soon be back stateside. Another highlight would be that they pulled four girls to compete in a Psych trivia game, where they had to name episode titles and Gus's nicknames, in addition to simpler questions.

photo: Jonathan Bredemeyer

Here are some facts from the panel, both from the Q&A and directly from the panelists:

- If Kirsten was to make out with someone, she'd choose Maggie.
- Corbin's least favorite scene to shoot was the one where he gets shot.
- Maggie's worst audition was when she was 19 and trying out to act as a 30-year-old single mother.
- The wardrobe people set out a few necklaces for James to pick from each year.
- There will, indeed, be a musical episode. AND, it'll be a special, two-hour ordeal. PLUS, it is already partially written, so get excited! It will shoot in October. We even got to hear some. :)
- When Dule was on Broadway, a fan wanted his sweat towel - he gave it to her and she took off screaming. How's that for a funky fan encounter??
- When it comes to naming the best singer, Dule says that he and James are about even, or maybe Tim, but James claims that it's Maggie.
- Corbin suggested that Henry could have a career as an assassin. Weapon of choice? Pie.
Sean will not mature this season.
- Even celebrities have their favorites! Dule has geeked out over Lionel Ritchie, Kirsten over Tim Curry, Corbin over Jeffrey Tambor (who plays Maggie's stepdad on the show), and everyone else over William Shatner.
- The strangest question was what Dule and James would do if they were in one another's bodies... James would dunk and Dule would get twitter.

Look forward to Psych's Guide to Crime Fighting for the Totally Unqualified coming February 19, 2013.

photo: Jonathan Bredemeyer

After Psych, we had two panels for new shows, Beauty and the Beast and Elementary, which we'll get to in a different post. But, first, an old fan-favorite... like Dexter, which has its final season premiering on September 30th at 9pm on Showtime. The panel was actually preceded by a fifteen-minute presentation from Homeland, with executive producer Howard Gordon. We see a trailer for the second season and find out that Claire Danes' pregnancy will not affect her character.

The lanyards that all Comic-Con attendees received were branded with Dexter, so no swag was expected. We did find out that there is a Dexter mobile game, and that even more "Early Cuts" are coming. We got a recap of the previous season and the first two minutes of the new season's premiere (Deb sees Dexter over Travis's body, she goes to call the station, he wants to stop her), then it was right into a Q&A with actors Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter, and Yvonne Strahovski, plus executive producers John Goldwyn and Scott Buck. Not the best selection of questions in the world, but here are some highlights gleaned from the discussion:
- a piece of advice that Michael C. Hall would give Season One's Dexter would be to not make any friends.
- Michael C. Hall and Dexter may look alike, but that's pretty much it for their similarities.
- Michael believes that people love a serial killer because they identify with him.
- Harry will appear in the upcoming season.
- Michael considers Trinity to be Dexter's most satisfying kill.
- Michael can't believe he worked with John Lithgow.
- Jennifer Carpenter and Michael C. Hall didn't think that the show would really take off when they each read the pilot.
- People actually send in bail-bondsmen suggestions.
- Michael C. Hall thinks it would be cool for the finale to actually be 12 different episodes, each suggesting a different ending.
- Regarding their most embarrassing moments on-set, Jennifer confesses to falling at the ice rink and hitting her head, and Michael says that he ran the Slice of Life into a pier and did $8,000 of damage.

Stay tuned for more Comic-Con updates!