Dragon*Con Tracks Cover SF TV Highlights

by Amy Herring

Dragon*Con is a haven for science fiction fans whose favorite genre is television media. According to Marc Berman, a TV analyst for www.mediaweek.com (as reported in Thursday’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC), “the end of the X-Files [in 2002] signaled the end of a golden era for sci-fi” on television. Even though Buffy may have “slain her last vampire” on first-run, primetime TV (per AJC), Dragon*Con still offers tracks catering to fans of long-cancelled and happily current SF series.

Identified by AJC as the “heavyweight” of television SF, The X-Files (1993 to 2002, Rest in Uneasy Peace) has its own track at Dragon*Con. The X Track offers programming on Sunday and Monday exclusively in the Marriott’s Sydney meeting room (on the Marquis & Imperial Ballroom level).

Dubbed a “cult classic” by AJC, Buffy the Vampire Slayer has a track at Dragon*Con. Hard-core fans awake Sunday morning can meet the bad boys of Buffy and spinoff Angel at 10:00 a.m. in the Centennial I ballroom at the Hyatt. All remaining Buffy track programming on Sunday and Monday is located in the Cairo room on the Hyatt Embassy Hall level.

Star Trek: Enterprise, the only surviving Star Trek franchise in production, is suffering from the indignity of a move from Wednesday night prime viewing time to Friday evening dead-time, according to AJC. But whatever iteration of Star Trek is your fandom choice, the Dragon*Con TREK/Star Trek/Trek Track has it all. The Hyatt’s Regency VI-VII ballroom is the venue for two special events Sunday, the TrekTrack Filk Concert (2:30 p.m.) and the 2004 Miss Klingon Empire Beauty Pageant. A “don’t miss” event, the sixth annual pageant of well-armed lovelies will capture the Regency VI-VII ballroom at 4:00 p.m. Sunday. Other TREK programming is scheduled in the Baker room on the Hyatt Conference Center level.

Stargate SG-1, a TV “survivor” with its genesis in 1997, is featured in the AMTV/American SF Media track. Additional survivors included on the AMTV track are Smallville (2001 to present), Charmed (1998 to present) and genre-bender newcomers Tru Calling and Joan of Arcadia (both airing from 2003 to present).