This post was written and sourced by Heather, Carmen, Valerie, and Natalie
San Diego Comic-Con aka The Super Bowl of Geekdom happened this weekend and, keeping in line with the mandate of 20GayTeen, so much queer news and shenanigans broke and went down! Too many newses and shenanigans, in fact, to wait for our weekly Pop Culture Fix — so some of our TV team has compiled a list of everything we could find about all the stuff you love. Maybe some of it will be news to you! Maybe some of it will just be fun to talk about with your pals! Maybe you just want to celebrate silently in your cubicle or office!
If you want a super quick overview, The Hollywood Reporter declared that while there’s still more work to do, the main lesson of SDCC 2018 is INCLUSION REIGNS!
Charmed
Charmed aired a screener of their first episode as part of their Comic-Con panel. Even though we weren’t lucky enough to attend San Diego Comic-Con this year, Carmen happened to also have a press screener of the exact same episode! So, she brings you this brief, spoiler-light review:
Our new Charmed sisters are Mel, Maggie, and Macy. Mel, played by Melonie Diaz, is our lesbian to watch out for! She’s shown in bed with another woman of color in the first five minutes of the pilot! I don’t have to tell you, but in a television landscape where queer love (particularly between women of color) is so often on the back burner, this is already a promising development. Mel’s an army boot wearing, spending her spare time warning sorority girls against rape culture, flyering campus with “Time’s Up” posters, Gender Studies grad student, so on the nose that it almost feels like stereotype kind of feminist — and I say that super lovingly. Mel will feel comfortable to you, because on some level we all know her. Hell, we’ve probably dated her. Maybe we are her. Even in the first episode, she radiates tenderness and strength. Mel’s over-eager, a genuine do-gooder, and wants the best for the women in her life. I can see myself getting addicted to her on my screen already.
The show has a light gothic horror aesthetic, and attention paid to the loving bond of sisters, that reminds me a lot of the OG Charmed. There’s still a whitelighter, and a Book of Shadows, and most importantly — THE POWER OF THREE!!! Wooot! Woot! While it plays with the sensibilities of the original show, this Charmed also has a refreshing voice of its own. It’s funny, so freaking funny. It’s witty and smart and firmly rooted in women’s point of view. The warmth of the feminist voice presented here somehow echoes Jane The Virgin, even though the tone of two shows couldn’t be more different. That should be expected; they come from the same creators. I know for a lot of Charmed faithfuls, this remake is controversial at best (and bordering on sacrilegious for some). I loved the first Charmed. The new version makes a strong, delightful argument that it should be judged on its own terms. I’m giving it a high priority in my fall viewing schedule!
Also:
Some notes on Charmed‘s queerness.
Melonie Diaz will play the lesbian sister.
And there are going to be plenty of “juicy love stories.”
Doctor Who
I put the first Jodie Whittaker Doctor Who teaser in last week’s Pop Culture Fix, but the first real trailer with real footage is here and WIBBLY WOBBLY TIMEY WIMEY, Y’ALL.
Also:
Everyone had a lot of questions for Jodie, mostly variations on, like, “You’re a woman, huh?” Here she is talking about the responsibility and how diversity larger than cis white women. She then crashed the Her Universe fashion show.
Here’s the new showrunner saying everyone who’s happy about this diversity inside the TARDIS needs to bring a friend along, and that the new season is a perfect jumping on point. (Implied: Angry white dudes are not going to watch.)
New team photo!
Thirteen and her WIFE.
Wynonna Earp
The biggest news out of SDCC for Earpers is that the show has already been renewed for a fourth season! It was also news to a lot of non-Earpers that Earper fandom is so damn nice. New York Magazine wrote a whole thing about it.
Also:
Wynonna Earp Funkos are coming.
GLAAD did a WayHaught Facebook live.
And here’s a rundown of the show’s full panel.
“EXCUSE ME THIS IS AN ATTACK.” – Valerie Anne
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
The cast of Brooklyn Nine-Nine made a big impression at their first SDCC, and of course they did. Cons are all about fandom and fandom is what saved this show! The main thing you want to know is that showrunner Dan Goor is “definitely hopeful” Gina Rodriguez will be back after she turned Rosa into a pile of smitten goop in that season finale! And Steph Beatriz is confident the exploration of Rosa’s bisexuality will continue when the show moves to NBC.
Also:
Steph Beatriz said more really cool things about being bi.
You’re gonna tear up watching this video of a fan thinking Stephanie Beatriz and Melissa Fumero for queer and Latina representation.
Terry Crews made the whole room teary when a fan thanked him for participating in #MeToo by sharing his own story of sexual assault and abuse.
Vulture’s favorite moments of the B99 panel.
Star Trek Discovery
Tig Notaro, baby!
Also:
Tig moderated the panel, which included news that Wilson Cruz will be back and be an unburied gay.
The show will be back in early 2019.
American Horror Story: Apocalypse
Is the new season gay? I don’t know! Will it be gay because it’s the hotly anticipated crossover season between AHS: Murder House and AHS: Coven? I still don’t know! In its original form, AHS: Coven and exactly ZERO QUEER WOMEN, despite being about mother-effing witches!! That is Ryan Murphy’s biggest career mistake, and will he use the sequel to fix it? I. DON’T. KNOW.
Also and most importantly:
Sarah Paulson will be in this thing, obviously.
Black Lightning
https://www.instagram.com/p/BllY8rgjhwy/?hl=en&taken-by=nafessawilliams
Trying to figure out whether or not Black Lightning is going to be a part of the Arrowverse crossover this year has been so confusing and frustrating, mostly because I keep coming to the conclusion that no it’s not and also that means Nafessa and Kate Kane aren’t going to get to share a screen immediately and that is A TRAVESTY.
Here’s Nafessa Williams talking about the importance of black lesbian representation.
Carmen would like you to know that she is “SALTY THAT JENNIFER’S BOYFRIEND IS GETTING A PROMOTION AND WE STILL HAVEN’T SEEN GRACE CHOI IN TEN EPISODES.”
You know how Anissa’s nickname on the show is Harriet Tubman? Well, Nafessa Williams keeps a photo of Harriet Tubman in her dressing room! Also: “We gotta be who we are unapologetically.”
Legends of Tomorrow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoSjI3N3_rA
Also:
That sure is a lot of AvaLance! And here’s Jes MacAllan on that. And here she is some more.
Ramona Young is joining the season four cast.
Maisie Sellers-Richards is back too.
Wonder Woman 1984
The new surprise footage from the Wonder Woman sequel sent the internet into glorious hysterics. I kept thinking it was going to show up on YouTube, but it never did! Here’s a description, though, from Vulture:
A fun action sequence that featured Gadot’s Wonder Woman fending off gunmen in a very 80’s-looking mall food court. (If you’ve been paying attention, it’s the same one we saw a confused Pine wandering around in his first still from the film.) As she strides toward the evildoers, Wonder Woman catches the attention of a grinning little girl, and her priority immediately becomes protection. “Hold tight,” says our heroine as she picks up the girl and super-hurls her away, sliding the kid across the food-court floor. Don’t worry: The girl giggles the entire time, loving the ride, and crashes safely into some plush teddy bears.
After that, Wonder Woman focuses her attention on the bad guys and quickly disarms them, crushing their guns with her super-strength. As a final flourish, she whips out her lasso and entangles both men with it, then pulls a move straight out of Atomic Blonde by using their weight as ballast to leap off the top floor of the mall and land three stories down below. It’s a sequence with pep and pop that feels like something Lynda Carter would love, and it was followed by an unrelated shot of Wonder Woman running at super-speed through a city street, so fast that the passersby might as well be standing in place.
Also:
Patty Jenkins chatting about why she chose the ’80s for the new Wonder Woman.
Supergirl
Also:
Alex’s journey this season will be about balance. From Chyler Leigh: “She’s stepping in and trying to find her footing [at the DEO]… Motherhood, that side of it, will be part of the journey.”
Nicole Maines is joining the cast as the first trans superhero on teevee! (Maines was the plaintiff in the case Doe v. Clenchy which set a precedent for trans students in Maine being allowed to use the bathroom that corresponded with their gender identity.) Her character is described as “a soulful young transgender woman with a fierce drive to protect others.”
April Parker Jones is joining the cast as Colonel Haley.
A promise from the showrunner that feels very good: “Kara Danvers the reporter is going to be as big of a hero this season as Supergirl.”
Steven Universe
A REAL MOVIE!
Also:
Dove also is partnering with Steven Universe to release “a series of films addressing children’s biggest barriers to self-esteem set in the Steven Universe world.” The first one is very adorable. Ruby and Sapphire and Stevonnie!
Riverdale
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Q8a4iucRJJs
Also:
POTENTIAL QUEER LOVE TRIANGLE ALERT! Showrunner/ EP Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa teased that Toni might find herself in a rivalry with Josie this season. Why? Because Cheryl had a crush on Josie first.
Kevin’s for sure gonna be dating Moose next season.
Another musical episode is in the works.
The young cast is gonna play their own parents in a flashback episode, ha!
I stand by that quote.
I still stand by my quote, too.
@c-p Hello Carmen. Mel’s girlfriend on Charmed who was in bed with her is an Asian character not Latina. She is also played by Ellen Tamaki.
Thanks for the notice! And my apologies!
I will see if I can get Heather to make the adjustment.
Still great to see two queer women of color in a relationship on TV!
The Black Lightening cast is ridiculously attractive. I’m annoyed they aren’t apart of the crossover this year, then again it would probably highlight how much that show is so much better than the others. Might be why they aren’t doing it.
I am so tired of Alex Danvers SuperBabysitter it’s not even funny. I have no interest in watching another season of that. Along with another season of the writers baiting the queer fans with more Supercorp subtext.
Can we talk about Alex Danvers’ new look, cause Chyler Leigh is kiiiiilling it.
I’m estatic about Wynonna Earp being renewed! I’m so proud of my little Canadian show! Even more proud that it’s filmed in my home province.
I can’t wait for Wonder Woman 1984!
“It’s a total joke. It’s a total joke” But tell me anyway
Despite being a science fiction nerd and having had girlfriends who know what a Tardis is, I have never for one moment of my life given a second thought to Dr Who prior to now, but after the above trailer, it’s gone directly into my TV tracker and I’m looking forward to understanding what the fuss is all about. So mission accomplished, whoever did the casting for the new doctor.
Also I’m thrilled that Wynonna Earp has earned its season renewal. I somehow lost the narrative thread and wandered off into the shiny midway into the second season, but I regard this as a personal failure requiring immediate correction (and an excellent late summer project). I remember watching the Periscope of WayHaught at the first Clexacon and the gobsmacked look on Katherine Barrell’s face the entire time was such a beautiful moment in queer fandom, I don’t even know where I’ve been. So I’ll enjoy rewatching/catching up this month and then following Autostraddle’s recaps of the third season in real time. :)
I am super excited for the new Charmed! I tried to get into the old one and just couldn’t unfortunately. This looks like everything I want to watch though!
When I say WYNONNA, you say EARP
WYNONNA… … …EARP!
WYNONNA… … …EARP!
When I say SEASON, you say 4
SEASON… … …4!
SEASON… … …4!
I am so excited by the announcement. I mean given the advertising blitz that they FINALLY gave the show for season 3, it seemed like a no brainer, but I guess nothing is guaranteed.
Now is it too early to discuss season 5+?
… EARP! … 4! ?
This is such a delight!!
Nooooo please not another musical episode of Riverdale, there is enough evil in the world already
i wouldnt know what shows to watch without autostraddle this is marvelous and good gRIEF if nafessa williams needs someone to propose to her i am ready and willing
Also announced at SDCC: Youtube renewed Impulse for a second season. Since it’s a Youtube Premium show, I’m guessing most people haven’t heard of it, but one of the main characters is a budding baby dyke, and I’m pretty sure her nascent queerness is going to be one of the storylines explored in the next season (given how clearly it was telegraphed in the first season).