J.J. Abrams at Comic-Con, a Whedon net musical, more about Galactica spin-off Caprica, and a trailer for Abrams’ Fringe

Comic-Con’s programming lineup for the July 24-27, 2008 is now online, and includes TONS of TV-related panels, discussions and screenings this year.

Everyone’s favorite comic, film and sci-fi festival/fanboy orgy, has posted it’s complete, and searchable schedule online RIGHT HERE.

Comic-Con will host previews and Q&As with stars and creators of the upcoming series Dollhouse, Kings, True Blood, Life on Mars, Virtuality and My Own Worst Enemy (See brief synopses below).

Additionally, among the series returning to the Con this year are NBC’s Heroes and Chuck, ABC’s Pushing Daisies and Lost and Fox’s Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Big news is that Dollhouse series creator Joss Whedon will pull double duty at the Con with a screening and panel for his Internet musical Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (Synopsis below).

More big news is that for the first time, the con will have programming on preview night, Wednesday, July 23. Two screenings of J.J. Abrams’ supernatural drama Fringe (Synopsis below) will be held on that night. Don’t worry, fans will at least get an extended trailer screening and Abrams Q&A on Saturday.

If all of that isn’t enough to get your heart pounding with anticipation, TV networks Warner Bros., NBC Universal, Sci Fi and The Cartoon Network, will have booths set up on the convention hall floor, featuring giveaways, autograph signings and memorabilia.

Some new TV show synopses:

Dollhouse, Kings
Joss Whedon, creator of groundbreaking cult favorites Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly, returns to television and reunites with fellow Buffy alumna Eliza Dushku for a thrilling new drama, Dollhouse.

Echo (Dushku) is an “Active,” a member of a highly illegal and underground group who have had their personalities wiped clean so they can be imprinted with any number of new personas. Confined to a secret facility known as the “Dollhouse,” Echo and the other Actives including Sierra (Dichen Lachman from Neighbours) and Victor (Enver Gjokaj from The Unit) carry out engagements assigned by Adelle (Olivia Williams, X-Men: The Last Stand, Rushmore), one of the Dollhouse leaders. The engagements cater to the wealthy, powerful and connected, and require the Actives to immerse themselves in all manner of scenarios – romantic, criminal, uplifting, dangerous, comical and the occasional “pro bono” good deed.

After each scenario, Echo, always under the watchful eye of her handler Boyd (Harry Lennix from Commander in Chief, 24), returns to the mysterious Dollhouse where her thoughts, feelings and experiences are erased by Topher (Fran Kranz from Welcome to the Captain), the Dollhouse’s genius programmer. Echo enters the next scenario with no memory of before. Or does she?

As the series progresses, FBI Agent Paul Smith pieces together clues that lead him closer to the Dollhouse, while Echo stops forgetting, her memories begin to return and she slowly pieces together her mysterious past.

Produced by 20th Century Fox Television and Mutant Enemy, Dollhouse revolves around Echo’s blossoming self-awareness and her desire to discover her true identity. But with each new engagement, comes a new memory and increased danger inside and outside the Dollhouse.
CAST
Eliza Dushku as Echo
Olivia Williams as Adelle
Tahmoh Penikett as Paul
Fran Kranz as Topher
Dichen Lachman as Sierra
Enver Gjokaj as Victor
Harry Lennix as Boyd

True Blood
HBO series that follows Sookie Stackhouse, a barmaid living in Louisiana who can read people’s minds, and how her life is turned upside down when the Vampire Bill, walks into her place of employment two years after vampires have unveiled themselves to mankind on national television. A Japanese synthetic called “True Blood” which gives blood-suckers a substitute for the real thing, and the two races start an uneasy co-existence.
CAST
Rutina Wesley as Tara Thornton
Jim Parrack as Hoyt Fortenberry
Anna Paquin as Sookie Stackhouse
Stephen Moyer as Bill Compton
Michael Raymond-James as Rene Lenier

Life on Mars
New show about a detective mysteriously sent back to the 1970s, after a present-day car accident sends. An American remake of a 2006 BBC series.
CAST
Rachelle Lefevre as Det. Annie Cartwright
Michael Imperioli as Detective Ray Carling
Jason O’Mara as Sam Tyler
Colm Meaney as Det. Gene Hunt
Stephanie Chaves-Jacobsen as Maya Robertson
Patrick Wenk-Wolff as Colin Raimes

Virtuality
Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica producer) is working on this Fox pilot with the creative team behind Battlestar Galactica. The potential series is set on a starship called Phaeton, which is on a 10-year journey to a distant solar system. Because the trip is so long, the crew can use virtual reality nodes that allow them to take on various identities and virtually go wherever they wish.
CAST
Sienna Guillory as Rika Goddard
Joy Bryant as Alice Thibadeau
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Frank Pike
Ritchie Coster as Jimmy Johnson
Omar Metwally as Dr. Eyal Meyer
Nelson Lee as Keni Yamaguchi
James D’Arcy
Jimmi Simpson

My Own Worst Enemy
The series follows the life of Henry Spivey, an efficiency expert who lives a typical suburban existence…the wife, two kids, dog, and minivan. In contrast, Edward Albright is a lethal, multilingual operative. It would seem the two men have nothing in common, except for the fact that they inhabit the same body. When each personality finds himself out of his element, things go awry. NBC is producing, so I think the show is going to be on NBC, or one of their affiliates. With heavy-weight talent like Oscar nominee Alfre Woodard appearing on the show, my bet would be NBC.
CAST
Cierra Ramirez as Ruth
Alfre Woodard as Mavis Heller

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
Josh Whedon’s web musical about a hapless, wannabe supervillian (Neil Patrick Harris) who keeps getting thwarted by arrogant hero Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion) while trying to get up the nerve to ask out the girl he likes (Felicia Day).
ADDITIONAL CAST
Heather Black

Below’s a trailer of Whedon’s creation:

Visit the official website for Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog at www.drhorrible.com

Fringe
From J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, the team behind Star Trek, Mission: Impossible III and Alias, comes a new drama that will thrill, terrify and explore the blurring line between science fiction and reality.

When an international flight lands at Boston’s Logan Airport and the passengers and crew have all died grisly deaths, FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham (newcomer Anna Torv) is called in to investigate. After her partner, Special Agent John Scott, is nearly killed during the investigation, a desperate Olivia searches frantically for someone to help, leading her to Dr. Walter Bishop, our generation’s Einstein. There’s only one catch: he’s been institutionalized for the last 20 years, and the only way to question him requires pulling his estranged son Peter in to help.

When Olivia’s investigation leads her to manipulative corporate executive Nina Sharp (Blair Brown from Altered States), our unlikely trio along with fellow FBI Agents Phillip Broyles, Charlie Francis and Astrid Farnsworth will discover that what happened on Flight 627 is only a small piece of a larger, more shocking truth.

Fringe is directed by Emmy Award-winning Alex Graves and produced by Warner Bros. Television and Bad Robot Productions.
CAST
Anna Torv as Olivia Dunham
Joshua Jackson as Peter Bishop
John Noble as Walter Bishop
Lance Reddick as Phillip Broyles
Kirk Acevedo as Charlie Francis
Mark Valley as John Scott
Blair Brown as Nina Sharp
Jasika Nicole as Astrid Farnsworth

CLICK HERE to see the trailer for Fringe.

Visit the official website for Fringe at www.fox.com/fringe

Film Fetish Trivia: Ronald D. Moore, who is producing the upcoming pilot Virtuality, is also working on a prequel series to Battlestar Galactica, called Caprica. The new series follows two families, the Graystones and the Adamas, who live together on a peaceful planet known as Caprica, where a startling breakthrough in artificial intelligence brings about unforeseen consequences. Caprica is set 50 years prior to the events of “Galactica”. It will star Eric Stoltz, Esai Morales, Polly Walker, Hiro Kanagawa and Roger R. Cross.