Should Outlander season 4 episode 1 premiere at New York Comic-Con?
While it would be lovely to think that the first episode of season 4 could premiere at the upcoming convention in New Jersey next month, the reality here is that it’s too far from the November premiere date. Given that there isn’t even a full trailer out there for the season yet (and we’d be surprised if there is one over the next month or so), we don’t anticipate that Starz is going to be too eager to show off the premiere episode this far in advance. They were a little more okay to do so with the season 3 premiere at San Diego Comic-Con last year, largely because of the fact that the premiere was only a month and a half out. That was also a larger convention with even more media present.
Even with all of these factors in mind for SDCC last year, the decision to screen the premiere was still met with a tremendous amount of controversy. It’s unusual for a show not in its first year to screen a full episode at a convention, and we know that there were some who were unhappy that a select few were chosen to watch the episode early when so many would do anything to have that opportunity. (Given how hard it is to get tickets to Comic-Con, we know that there are thousands who would have loved to be there.) Personally, we don’t necessarily think screening the premiere was too big of an issue, mostly because it brought so many headlines to the show and established even more of a community feel for everyone in attendance. Sure, it was a bummer that some couldn’t see the premiere episode early, but it certainly did not seem to hurt the ratings. It’s often just hard to get headlines at a convention when there is so much going on, and you have to find a way to generate attention wherever you can.
We do think that screening the start of season is something that Starz and Sony should at least consider for New York Comic-Con in October. For starters, it’s close to the premiere. Also, it generates more buzz, and given that this is New York rather than San Diego, there’s a good chance that you are catering to a very different audience than you did last year. Anything that is going to get the series more publicity, and in turn more potential ratings for the new season, we’re all about.
Related – Outlander costume designer Terry Dresbach leaving after season 4
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