It’s not exactly news that San Diego Comic-Con International is a big deal for Hollywood. Genre movies and TV shows can be made or buried by fan reactions to what they see at the Con.

Several networks have, in recent years, used Comic-Con as a launching pad to build buzz for their newest and hottest shows with panels and show-floor booths with swag giveaways. This year two of the most buzzed-about shows are releasing tie-in comic books as enticements for hungry fans.

IDW Publishing is using Comic-Con to launch a new True Blood comic book line, based on the popular HBO vampire show. At the Con, there are two exclusive editions of True Blood #1 available, each with a different cover. At the IDW booth (#2643), fans can get a special wrap-around cover by artist David Messina. The second special cover will be available through select retailers inside the convention center. Comic stores nationwide also have True Blood #1 starting today.

The first story arc in the True Blood comic book finds Sookie and other Bon Temps residents waiting in Merlotte’s bar for a raging storm outside to break. But this is no ordinary storm; it’s instead a trap set by an entity that feeds off of raw emotions, and soon it begins killing off the bar patrons one by one until its hunger is sated. The plot was developed by series creator Alan Ball and series writers Elisabeth Finch and Kate Barnow, co-written by David Tischman and Mariah Huehner. Messian handles the interior art.

AMC’s The Walking Dead, written and directed by Frank Darabont, is itself based on a comic book by Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore. AMC is using Comic-Con to launch its first-ever “motion comic,” which is based on the first 13 pages of the original comic book. The motion comic, which you can view below, serves as an introduction to the world of Walking Dead, and was produced by Juice Films, the same company that produced the Watchmen motion comic. The TV series premieres this October.

Dustin Hoffman

Deadwood writer David Milch is writing the script and A-list director Michael Mann is helming the pilot. The story concerns the world of horse racing, including provocative examinations of horse owners, gamblers, jockeys, and other industry players. Hoffman of course stars as the main character.

Also among Luck’s almost-entirely-boys-club cast are Dennis Farina (Law & Order), John Ortiz (Public Enemies), Kevin Dunn (Transformers), Richard Kind (Spin City), Jason Gedrick (Boomtown), Ritchie Coster (The Dark Knight), Ian Hart (Finding Neverland), Tom Payne (Wuthering Heights), Kerry Condon, Gary Stevens, and Nick Nolte.

Production begins this fall in Santa Anita and L.A., with no air date set.

And once again, Ball is using television to feed his obsession with death. His new title is All Signs of Death, and it’s based on a Charlie Huston novel called The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death. Huston’s novel is a crime noir thriller centering on a young man named Webster Goodhue, whose life gets complicated when he takes a job as a crime scene cleaner.

Ball himself will direct the pilot episode and oversee the series, while Huston himself is writing the pilot’s script. There’s been no cast announcements yet, but expect them soon, as production starts next month in L.A.

It should be no surprise that HBO wants to stay in the Alan Ball business. Six Feet Under got plenty of critical acclaim during its 5-season run, while True Blood, currently in its 3rd season, is the network’s highest-rated show. Like the Sookie Stackhouse novels that True Blood is based on, the main character in Huston’s Mystic Arts book is planned to recur in future books. Which should give Ball plenty of fodder for future seasons of his show.

Gervais, like most of the stars and guests on Curb, will be playing himself, although it will no doubt be an exaggerated version of himself. He’s signed on to join the cast for a single episode late in the upcoming Season 8. On a show known for improvisation, you’d be hard-pressed to find a modern comedian more suited to the show.

In other HBO news, the pay-cable network has released the first trailer for its hotly-anticipated series, Game of Thrones, which is based on the novel by George R.R. Martin. The series doesn’t debut until next year, but here’s the first all-too-brief teaser.

Hm, vampires vs. werewolves… Now where have I seen that before?

Then again, when has True Blood ever done anything similar to other depictions of vampires or other aspects of the supernatural?

The minisode features Eric & Pam watching dancers try out for a position at their nightclub, Fangtasia. This clip is rated MA and as such is recommended for adults only.

TV networks are no strangers to spring cleaning, as this is traditionally one time of the year when renewals and cancellations are announced. But the process typically takes on different forms depending on the show and the network it airs on. Broadcast TV and cable have wildly different business models, leading to hugely different renewal and broadcasting practices.

Case in point: NBC’s fledgling new drama Parenthood has been picked up for a second season. After airing only a handful of episodes, the mid-season replacement dramedy got the greenlight for another season thanks largely to its clever writing that avoids cliches and an appealing cast full of actors that play off of each another with family dynamics that ring true.

When you move away from broadcast networks, things are a lot less structured. Shorter seasons and fluid time slots are quite common, because those networks can afford to change things up; audiences will follow quality shows wherever and whenever they pop up. Shows like HBO favorite Curb Your Enthusiasm, which just coaxed creator/star Larry David into signing on for an eighth season. The show’s lauded seventh season — which reunited the cast of David’s other creation, Seinfeld — ended in 2009, but the eighth won’t air until sometime in 2011. That’s a two-year gap, which would be unheard of on broadcast TV, but is a luxury cable can afford.

Similarly, FX has announced that Rescue Me will return for its sixth season on June 29th. The Dennis Leary vehicle hasn’t dealt with a lot of scheduling issues, but it’s been able to air seasons that are dramatically shorter than those on broadcast TV. Most of the show’s seasons have had a mere 13 episodes (lower episode orders arguably lead to higher quality episodes, but that’s a whole other topic). The show’s return for Season 6 was never in question, but the announcement came with some much bigger news: 2011’s Season 7 will conclude the show next year.

The pilot episode’s tone was just not right. I couldn’t decide if it felt more like porn, lousy comedy, or drama. Whatever it was it seemed that they tried to cram too much in the first episode and in the end everything just fell flat. Despite my very negative experience with True Blood though I know that my mistake is not sticking around to even see any of the following episodes because it seems that it finally took off. Just goes to show though how important pilot episodes are. Hopefully season 2 will start of a lot better. If it does I might even bother to get a dvd copy of the first season and watch it all, except for the first episode of course.

What do you think? Should I give True Blood another chance? Are you a fan or are you one of those that was really turned off after seeing the show’s pilot episode last season?

LDS gave a statement regarding the controversy saying that, “Certainly Church members are offended when their most sacred practices are misrepresented or presented without context or understanding.” But despite the offence they feel they are definitely taking the high road by opting not to call for an official boycott of HBO according to LDS, “Individual Latter-day Saints have the right to take such actions if they choose. The Church … as an institution does not call for boycotts. Such a step would simply generate the kind of controversy that the media loves and in the end would increase audiences for the series,” a smart move for a group that is often presented in the media in a bad light.

As for HBO they stand behind their series saying that the writers have done their best to ensure that the sacred event which will be shown in the most accurate and respectful manners.

This will be the first time in history that the LDS’ sacred ceremony of endowment will be seen on television. The endowment ritual is an event performed within the LDS temple wherein particular gifts or powers were “endowed” upon members of the church. So far that is all I know of the ceremony and have no idea if I’ll learn more when I see Big Love on Sunday.

When you think of the South, what comes to mind? Thick southern accents perhaps? Mullets? Beer? Country music? Perhaps all that and more. While some of these stereotypes may hold true, real people from the real South know that there is so much more about them and their way of life than what the rest of the (perhaps uninformed) world knows. You have to admit, what Hollywood brings to the screen – TV or movie – is not always the real deal.

With Eastbound & Down, however, we just might get a taste of what southern living is really all about. Danny McBride, the writer behind the series and the main actor as well, wants the world to know that the show is not all about the “Hollywood south.” Instead, he wants to shout that this is the real thing – the real south with real people living real lives.

So what is this six-episode series all about? Amy Hotz of Star News Online wrote:

McBride plays Kenny Powers and “Eastbound” is about his down and out life. Kenny used to have a very successful career as a pro baseball pitcher. He had the money, he had the girls, he had the drugs. Progressively, though, he just seemed to have lost his power on the mound. And then he lost his job.

Forced to find something else to do, Kenny had no option but to put his head down in shame and return to his hometown, Shelby, N.C. To add insult to injury, the only job he can find in this un-glamorous town is with his old middle school, which needs a substitute P.E. teacher. Oh, and he’s so poor he has to live with his brother’s perfect family.

The unique thing about the show is that they found actors who are really from the south. To quote McBride, “When people that aren’t from the south pretend like they’re from the south it just brings out all the cliches and, you know, just all the stuff that you’ve seen a million times. It’s not even that accurate and not even that entertaining anymore at this point.” As such, do not expect any of the usual portrayals we see. Looks interesting to me.