‘Scream’ awards worth howling at

BY KATE O'HARE Comments 0
Published: October 26, 2009

For movie and TV fans, awards don’t have a lot to do with what they like. That’s lucky for horror, science fiction, fantasy and comics fans, because it’s sometimes a long wait between moments when the productions they love get big prime-time kudos.

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But fans with access to Spike TV haven’t had to wait more than a year for a new edition of "Scream,” the cablenet’s awards gala honoring projects and people in horror, sci-fi and fantasy, along with comics in print and on-screen. The fourth annual event, taped Oct. 17 at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, will air at 9 p.m. Tuesday.

"If you look at what box office is doing in these genres,” executive producer Casey Patterson says, "if you look at what’s happening in television in these genres ... it just couldn’t be bigger.”

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences didn’t give Syfy’s acclaimed "Battlestar Galactica” an Emmy nomination in its final season for outstanding drama series, but "Scream” is picking up the slack, doing "a huge, full-cast reunion, final farewell moment,” Patterson says.

Patterson says because "Scream” loves genre creators as well as fans, the awards get that love back, starting with Comic-Con, a comic-book convention in San Diego that has become a multimedia phenomenon.

"We are the only corporate entity to partner with Comic-Con,” Patterson says. "They present their highest honor of the year, their Icon Award, on our show and have since its conception.”

Choosing nominees is an advisory board that includes such genre luminaries as Tim Burton, Wes Craven, Roland Emmerich, Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller, Eli Roth and Zack Snyder, who chose from films, TV shows and comic books representing the genres and released between Aug. 9, 2008, and July 15, 2009. Online voting at scream.spike.com determines the winners.

Along with "best” awards for acting, directing, writing and projects, there are more imaginative categories such as Most Memorable Mutilation, Fight-to-the-Death Scene and Ultimate Scream.

Director J.J. Abrams’ "Star Trek” topped the list with 17 nominations; "X-Men Origins: Wolverine” and "Watchmen” had 13; and HBO’s vampire melodrama "True Blood” had nine. Marvel Comics guru Stan Lee is receiving the Icon Award.