Saturday, July 20 may be the first day that TV programming doesn’t upstage the movie events at Comic-Con 2013, but there are still enough TV options to help small screen fans avoid Hall H.
It will be a day of vampires, with “The Originals” landing a somewhat odd slot in the Indigo Ballroom and then “True Blood” and “The Vampire Diaries” going back-to-back in Ballroom 20.
It was be a day of animation, with “Futurama,” “The Simpsons,” “Family Guy” and “American Dad” forming their normal midday block in Ballroom 20.
And it will be a confusing day for the Amell family, as Stephen’s “Arrow” panel overlaps with Robbie’s “The Tomorrow People” panel in the late afternoon.
Here are just some of the Comic-Con Saturday TV panels:
“Bates Motel”
10:00-11:00 a.m.
6A
Who: Producers Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin will be joined by stars Vera Farmiga, Freddie Highmore, Max Thieriot, Olivia Cooke and Nestor Carbonell.
Lowdown: “Lost” favorite Nestor Carbonell and “Lost” showrunner Carlton Cuse will over-explain the twist at the end of the first season finale and will probably be asked repeatedly how much, exactly, their A&E drama has to do with Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho.”
“Once Upon a Time in Wonderland”
10:15-11:00 a.m.
Ballroom 20
Who: Co-creators Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz are the only listed talent, but we’re promised “surprise guests.”
Lowdown: There is no pilot for ABC’s “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland,” so you won’t get to see it, but perhaps there will be lots of clips from the presentation, as well as appearances by cast members who aren’t big enough names to get shout-outs in the Comic-Con schedule.
“Once Upon a Time”
11:00-11:45 a.m.
Ballroom 20
Who: Kitsis and Horowitz will stick around from the previous panel and will be joined by Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Morrison, Robert Carlyle, Josh Dallas, Emilie de Ravin, Colin O’Donoghue and Michael Raymond James.
Lowdown: The people behind “Once Upon a Time” will discuss why ratings plummeted in the second half of the second season and how they’re going to help the numbers recover. Oh, we kid. They’re going to discuss mythology and how cute Captain Hook is.
“Futurama”
12:00-12:45
Ballroom 20
Who: Vocal stars Billy West, John DiMaggio, Katey Sagal, Maurice LaMarche, Tress MacNeille, David Herman, Phil LaMarr and Lauren Tom, plus producers David X. Cohen and Matt Groening
Lowdown: It was only a couple years ago that the full “Futurama” team celebrated the show’s resurrection at Comic-Con and now they’re back to talk about the final season. Sniffle. Sniffle.
“How I Met Your Mother”
12:00-1:00 p.m.
Indigo Ballroom
Who: Stars Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan will be there, along with with producers Carter Bays, Craig Thomas and Pamela Fryman.
Lowdown: “How I Met Your Mother” is heading into its final season and this will be the show’s first time at Comic-Con. It appears that they brought the entire cast, but they won’t be bringing the Mother. Or maybe she’ll just be a surprise guest? Whee!
“The Simpsons”
12:45-1:30 p.m.
Ballroom 20
Who: Matt Groening sticks around and will be joined by Al Jean, Mike Anderson and David Silverman.
Lowdown: The rundown promises “never-before seen footage from guest director Guillermo del Toro,” which is already exciting enough, but when you throw in the promise of musical guests performing “We Put The Spring in Springfield,” we’re truly intrigued.
“The Originals”
1:00-2:00 p.m.
Indigo Ballroom
Who: Creator Julie Plec will be joined by stars Joseph Morgan, Daniel Gillies, Claire Holt, Phoebe Tonkin and Chad Michael Davis.
Lowdown: Yes, you’re reading that correctly. Comic-Con has, in its infinite wisdom, put The CW’s “The Vampire Diaries” spinoff in the comedy-centric Indigo, following a panel for “HIMYM.” The description promises a “special video presentation.” It’s unclear if that means the full-length pilot or not. Think of it as an hour with Phoebe Tonkin and Claire Holt and you won’t be disappointed.
“Family Guy” and “American Dad”
1:45-2:30 p.m. and then 2:30-3:15
Ballroom 20
Who: Seth Green, Alex Borstein and Rich Appel, plus “surprise guests.”
Lowdown: Some years, Seth MacFarlane makes it down to San Diego for his various animated offerings and their inevitable Saturday panels. It does not appear this is one of those years, unless he turns out to be a surprise guest.
“Grimm”
2:40-3:50 p.m.
Room 6BCF
Who: Stars David Giuntoli, Russell Hornsby, Bitsie Tulloch, Silas Weir Mitchell, Reggie Lee, Sasha Roiz, Bree Turner and Claire Coffee will be joined by producers Jim Kouf, David Greenwalt, Todd Milliner and Norberto Barba.
Lowdown: This seems like a really long panel for just NBC’s Friday hit “Grimm,” but in addition to all of the “Grimm” chatter, Comic-Con is also promising an exclusive trailer from NBC’s “Dracula.”
“True Blood”
3:30-4:15 p.m.
Ballroom 20
Who: The rundown doesn’t actually say. But the panel will be moderated by Tim Stack, so whoever’s there, he’ll talk about their abs.
Lowdown: It’s interesting how many of the bigger TV panels have been moved to Hall H this year, but not only is “True Blood” still in Ballroom 20, but it’s moved towards the middle of the afternoon. Draw your own conclusions. Anyway, “True Blood” panels are all the same.
“Person of Interest”
4:00-4:45 p.m.
Room 6BCF
Who: Producers Jonathan Nolan and Greg Plageman will be joined by “series stars.”
Lowdown: “Person of Interest” will be on the move to Tuesday nights this fall, so this will be a good chance to make sure that the fans are still on-board. Will new cast regular Sarah Shahi pop by for a visit? That might be fun.
“The Vampire Diaries”
4:30 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.
Ballroom 20
Who: Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder, Candice Accola and Kat Graham will be joined by producers Julie Plec and Caroline Dries.
Lowdown: Last year, Nina Dobrev got to discuss all of the big changes she was anticipating for her character. It seems like this year will be Paul Wesley’s time to talk about big changes. Or maybe the cast will just flirt and banter.
“Revolution”
4:50-5:50 p.m.
Room 6BCF
Who: “Series stars and producers.”
Lowdown: Will “Revolution” be able to survive the move to Wednesdays at 8 p.m.? This will be an early chance to test the temperature of the drama’s fanbase and see how eager they are to return. J.J. Abrams probably won’t be there, but Eric Kripke almost certainly will be.
“Rick and Morty”
5:00-5:45 p.m.
25ABC
Who: Producers Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland, plus writer Ryan Ridley and stars Spencer Grammer and Karl Wahlgren.
Lowdown: Dan Harmon is sure to be on his best behavior during Sunday’s “Community” panel, but there’s at least a chance that he’ll be entirely unfiltered for a late-Saturday panel for his new Adult Swim series. Knock wood.
“Arrow”
5:15-6:00 p.m.
Ballroom 20
Who: Stars Stephen Amell, Stephen Amell’s abs, Katie Cassidy, David Ramsey, Emily Bett Rickards and Colton Haynes will be joined by producers Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg.
Lowdown: Stephen Amell will flex for 45 minutes. Nothing but pull-ups and crunches. No? Can you be 100 percent sure that won’t be the case? Well, perhaps they’ll discuss that really dark season finale and what it means for the second season.
“The Tomorrow People”
5:55-6:55 p.m.
Room 6BCF
Who: Robbie Amell, Peyton List and Mark Pellegrino will be joined by Greg Berlanti, Phil Klemmer and Danny Cannon.
Lowdown: If the Amell family plays this right, they could got to the “Arrow” panel and then rush over to “Tomorrow People” and slip in after the screening of the pilot. That’s assuming they can get VIP passes.
“Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey”
6:00-7:00 p.m.
Indigo Ballroom
Who: Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and producers Ann Druyan and Brannon Braga.
Lowdown: This FOX update of Carl Sagan’s TV landmark has been Seth MacFarlane’s baby for years and even if Comic-Con has Neil deGrasse Tyson on hand, it’s hard to imagine MacFarlane not popping up in some form, right? Well, all they promise is a first look at “Ship of the Imagination.”
“Strike Back”
7:00-8:00 p.m.
Room 6DE
Who: Stars Phillip Winchester, Sullivan Stapleton, Dougray Scott and Miluana Jackson will be joined by producer Michael J. Bassett.
Lowdown: Cinemax’s action-and-sex extravaganza will be making its second straight appearance, promising exclusive clips and giveaways.