Thursday comedies battle for the Comic-Con audience

Two shows with a passionate fanbase and very geeky references both showed up this weekend at San Diego Comic-Con, and it just so happens that both will be on at the same time in the fall.

"The Big Bang Theory" hit the Con first and cast members talked about their feelings on the big move to Thursday.

"'Friends' is one of my all-time favorite shows. That was their timeslot for years, so I think it's awesome," said Kaley Cuoco.

"This is our fourth time change in three years. Every time we change times, you have a sense of anxiety," said Kunal Nayyar. "The 9:30 slot on Monday is such a safe slot. The viewers at 8 p.m. are less, so we know we're going to lose viewers. They're going to Tivo it. I have full faith that everyone's going to follow."

As for how last season ended, with Sheldon meeting an online date (Mayim Bialik) who was very much his female counterpart, Jim Parsons expressed surprise at this turn of events: "Sheldon's barely in a friendship, let alone a blind date! I'm very excited to see what twisty road they take to have these two communicate to each other. I said to Mayim after we shot it, 'Do you know what the hell's happening?'"

The cast of that other Thursday-at-8 sitcom, "Community," fresh off the announcement that Betty White would guest star in the season premiere, made their first Comic-Con appearance (with a panel in front of 1,600 people), ready to up the ante for season two.

Chevy Chase had an idea for how his character could keep the excitement around the show going: "I think Pearce should have a lot more heart attacks this year."

"Jeff is two inches taller [this season], he's gonna wear lifts," said Joel McHale about his character. "He's gonna have Ryan Seacrest-like tips in his hair. He will have lasered all the hair off his body. He will have broken the sound barrier four times."

"I'm gonna get a nasty drug habit, to really get people buzzing," joked Donald Glover.

But seriously, he added, "I think we're really going to bring it like we did in that 'Paintball' episode."

Speaking of the parodies that the show does so well, Yvette Nicole Brown talked about which genre she would like to tackle in the future: "I would love to do a romantic comedy show."

Glover agreed with her: "I've gotta be honest, I love 'The Notebook.' To parody that kind of stuff, you've gotta love it, and I've got enough love to go around."

"Horror would be really fun, I'd like to do that," said Danny Pudi. "Maybe some ninja movies, Bruce Lee stuff, like 'Enter the Dragon.'"

Could ideas like that be enough to karate chop the formidable competition? We'll find out in the fall.