New York Comic Con is underway in Manhattan, and a number of TV series and networks are using the event to better connect fans to their shows and to make new fans. Fox’s Krapopolis, Comedy Central’s South Park and Paramount Plus’s Good Burger 2 are among the shows and movies with a significant presence at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. 

Fox’s Animation Domination booth promoted an appearance from Krapopolis creator Dan Harmon Saturday, October 14. A life-size cutout of Grimsburg star Marvin Flute stood nearby, awaiting selfies.

Booth monitor John invited passersby to have their photo taken with Jon Hamm, who voices Flute. Alas, it was just not-quite-as-handsome Flute who was there to greet visitors. “Jon is looking a little stiff this morning,” quipped John. “He hasn’t had his coffee.”

The Animation Domination booth also promoted Bob’s Burgers, The Simpsons and Family Guy, with T-shirts and stickers. Eric and Ashley, who declined to give their last names, made the trip from South Jersey to the Javits Center, as they do every year. They were checking out the Bob’s Burgers pins and stickers. Eric said he loathed the show when they first met, and Ashley adored it, and had it on all the time. 

Over time, he grew to love Bob’s Burgers too. Ashley said they often keep the show on in the background when they’re doing something else around the house. 

“It’s our main go-to show,” Eric said. 

Amanda Carlyle and Nick Doyle of Brooklyn came to check out the Bob’s Burgers merch too. She finds the show’s vibe soothing. “The whole world is hard and scary,” she said. “It’s nice to have a show where the family really loves each other.”

Amanda and Nick come to Comic Con every year, scoping out the cool merch for the first couple of days and making their purchases on the last day. 

New York Comic Con happens October 12-15. Youthful attendees in a wide array of colorful costumes — superheroes, Harry Potter, Super Mario — attend. Tickets are sold out but digital tickets, where the user can watch the panels from outside the Javits, are available. 

The Paramount Plus booth featured the likes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (film Mutant Mayhem went live on the streamer last month) and South Park (special The Panderverse is on Paramount Plus October 27), with various items derived from the latter, such as Kyle’s recording pen, Karen Marsh’s hair and Eric Cartman’s breast implants, in display cases. 

The Good Burger 2 booth was done up like a burger stand, with fans waiting in line to check out set design elements from the movie and play some games. The first Good Burger movie, spun from a sketch on Nickelodeon’s All That, came out in 1997. Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell were in the original and are in the sequel, on Paramount Plus November 22. 

Sam Martir of the Bronx did not realize there was a Good Burger sequel coming up until she turned up at Comic Con. “I watched it when I was younger and always liked it,” she said. “I didn’t know they’re making a second one, and I’m psyched to watch it.”

Other TV shows on display at Comic Con included a screening of the season finale for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon on October 12, and screenings of the Disney Plus/Hulu reboot of Goosebumps, season four of drama Evil on Paramount Plus, USA Network, Syfy and Peacock’s Chucky and FX’s Archer on October 13, and Paramount Plus’s Star Trek: Lower Decks on October 14, among others. 

Day two of New York Comic Con is getting going at the Jacob Javits Center in New York. TV events include Prime Video Presents: Good Omens; Dan Harmon Presents: Krapopolis (already picked up by Fox for a second season), The Mysterious Benedict Society (Disney Plus); a sneak peek and cast conversation for Chucky season two (USA Network, Syfy); Prime Video Presents: The Wheel of Time & The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power; Teen Wolf: The Movie & Wolf Pack (Paramount Plus); a screening of Showtime’s Let the Right One In, followed by a Q&A with the cast and creators; Svengoolie and Friends (MeTV); and a Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo! film screening. 

New York Comic Con goes through Sunday, October 9. Opening day featured an interview with Julie Plec, who co-created Vampire Diaries, and is working on Vampire Academy for Peacock, and a screening of CBS comedy Ghosts, and panel with cast and producers. 

New York Comic Con offers Cosplay Central, a Gaming Zone, Community Lounge and Family HQ, among other attractions. 

Saturday will feature a reunion of the cast from The WB/CW show Smallville, a Star Trek Universe event, a look at Netflix’s horror comedy Wednesday, and a Jamie Lee Curtis panel with Drew Barrymore, along with dozens of other panels and sessions.

Sunday has a screening of The CW’s The Winchesters, HBO Max and DC’s Doom Patrol and Titans, and An Animation Journey with Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, among other happenings. ■

New York Comic Con is under way at the Jacob Javits Center in New York, happening October 6 to October 9. Television has a growing presence at the show, with exhibits set up for Nickelodeon's Spongebob Square Pants and Monster High, Fox’s Animation Domination, Paramount Plus's Teen Wolf–The Movie, MeTV and a few other networks and shows.

Julie Plec, creator of Vampire Academy on Peacock, was interviewed at the event October 6, and the cast and an executive producer of CBS comedy Ghosts held a panel that day too.

Fans of course dressed up in costumes, ranging from Ghostbusters, to Steve and Robin from Stranger Things in Scoops Ahoy attire, to Star Trek, Super Mario, and a vast range of superheroes.

Attendees were invited to audition to be on MeTV’s Svengoolie, and work alongside the horror host in a campaign the network calls Spawn of Svengoolie. “It’s been constant since we got here,” said a worker of the auditions.

Also there to represent MeTV was Marta Kristen, who played Judy Robinson on Lost in Space.

“We want to take a picture with the robot–and with Marta Kristen,” said Gretchen Jellett of Calverton, New York. Her favorite show on MeTV? Hogan’s Heroes.

She comes every year to Comic Con with her husband. “I married a big kid,” she said. “And he married a big kid.”

Things were a little quieter at the SpongeBob booth. “I don’t like SpongeBob either, to be honest with you,” a father said to his son as they passed.

Fox’s Animation Domination booth featured upcoming Dan Harmon show Krapopolis and the Jon Hamm show Grimsburg, along with old standbys like The Simpsons. Asked about their favorite Fox animated shows, a woman said "Bob’s Burgers" and her partner said, "Family Guy…when it was good."

Michelle Ozone of Brooklyn said she was curious about Krapopolis. “I like Dan Harmon specifically,” she said. “I look forward to the Community movie.”

Julie Plec, who co-created Vampire Diaries, and is working on Vampire Academy for Peacock, sat for a session. “Peacock bought the show even though I hadn’t written a word yet,” she shared. “It was a really hard show to prep and a really hard show to cast.”

The book franchise split time between Montana and the Poconos of Pennsylvania. Plec wanted it all in one setting. She needed a castle to shoot in, and found the perfect one in Spain.

Plec said she was drawn to vampires because all of her favorite shows growing up were “character stories and romance stories and friend stories,” and they all got canceled. Character and romance and friend stories with supernatural elements, on the other hand, seem to last.

“This show is about class and intolerance and friendship…and it’s about vampires too,” she said of the new project.

Down on the Main Stage, the cast and a producer from Ghosts sat for a panel after the audience watched a good chunk of the October 6 episode, "Alberta’s Podcast". Asher Grodman, who plays pantless ghost Trevor, had his seat break underneath him. “It’s because I’m wearing pants, man,” he said.

Exec producer Joe Wiseman explained how the writers room likes to put two characters who haven’t interacted much in a scene together, and see what kind of humor pops up. That happens when Flower and Hetty share some scenes in the October 6 episode.

Utkarsh Ambudkar, who plays Jay, said he hopes Jay will eventually get to see and hear and interact with the ghosts. “Hopefully we have many seasons to explore these storylines,” he said. “But for now I get to treat them like my children–and ignore them.”

Back on the floor, Comic Con veteran Hamex Quispe of Queens showed his friends, and Comic Con first-timers, around the floor. He’s there to take in the animation, consume some “exclusive stuff,” and meet people like him.

His friend Kailey Ortiz of the Bronx had a big smile on her face. “I love superheroes and I love comics and I love anime,” she said. “I love to see it all come together.”

On Friday, October 7, Dan Harmon presents Krapopolis, Prime Video presents Good Omens and the cast of USA/Syfy’s Chucky sits for a panel, among other TV stuff. Saturday has a Smallville cast reunion, a peek at Netflix’s Wednesday and a session for AMC’s The Walking Dead.

Sunday features a screening and Q&A for The CW’s The Winchesters, and the SpongeBob crossover event The Tidal Zone, among other TV happenings, before the Javits clears out. ■

AMC will bring back its zombie-themed series The Walking Dead for an 11th season, the network announced Saturday at the New York Comic Con.

The new season will feature the return of Lauren Cohan, who played character Maggie Greene in previous seasons, said network officials.

“The Walking Dead burst out of the gate ten years ago as a genre show that had all the character depth of a top-tier prestige drama,” said Sarah Barnett, President of AMC Networks Entertainment Group & AMC Studios in a statement. “And now ten years later - led by the brilliant [series executive producer) Angela Kang and fueled by one of the most consistently talented casts in television - this phenomenon is flourishing creatively, with critics and audiences embracing its reset. We’re delighted to welcome back Lauren Cohan, she has meant so much to this show and its passionate, global fanbase, who are in for a fantastic ride over the coming months.”

The Walking Dead franchise has spawned two series, Fear the Walking Dead and a new series from The Walking Dead executive producer Scott Gimple, as well as an untitled The Walking Dead movie starring Andrew Lincoln,