Julie Plec, the co-executive producer of “Kyle XY,” is sitting in the ABC Family booth as hoards of fans wait in a line that snakes off the convention floor. The fans are patient but excited to meet the show’s cast. Plec couldn’t be happier for her co-workers.
“It’s big deal for us,” she said of Comic-Con. “The cast shoots in Vancouver nine months a year. They don’t have a lot of fan interaction. This is really it for them.”
But if you only have one event you can do, Comic-Con has been a good choice for “Kyle XY.” When they first came down to San Diego two years ago, the show had only been on the air for a few weeks. “We walked in here thinking, “Please God, let there be people at our panel.” Turns out there were. Lots. Last year the “Kyle XY” panel got upgraded to a bigger room to meet demand. Now if a cast member ventures onto the convention floor, it is near pandemonium.
Plec was surprised to hear how many people talked about the show as a tool to bring families together. It is common for her to have a fan explain how “Kyle XY” got their family communicating, since it is the only show they watch together. “There really is a magical quality, the sci fi be damned,” she said.
When asked about any spinoff possibilities, Plec explained they created the Jessie character “always thinking how cool it would be to send Jessie off to a boarding school with other specials,” she explained. “The problem with Kyle XY is he doesn’t make bad decisions. That can be limiting in sci fi.”
But Plec defines Jessie as “kind of bad ass” and suggests the character will “be able to play the way ‘Angel’ was a bit darker than ‘Buffy.’” Right now a spinoff is just speculation, since there are no plans in the works.
Still, Plec said she and the other writers are open to the possibility (paging ABC Family…). If she plays her cards right, Plec’s Comic-Con experience may get a whole lot busier.
