Mythbusters

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Celebrities from TV and film head to Planet Comicon Kansas City in two weeks

Filed under: Backstage Pass, Con Culture, Fantasy Realms, Movies, Retro Fix, Sci-Fi Café, Superheroes, TV — Leave a comment

March 7, 2020

The Ninth Doctor, Darth Vader, Superman, James Bond’s Q, Lt. Cmdr. Data, Ahsoka Tano, Ariel-The Little Mermaid, a Mythbuster, a slate of characters from the CW Arrowverse, Stranger Things, and The Karate Kid, and more are heading to Kansas City

For twenty-one years Planet Comicon Kansas City has been one of the Midwest’s biggest comic book and pop culture conventions and that was no less so in 2014 when it became the largest attended event in the history of the Kansas City Convention Center. And it’s only gotten bigger. Last year’s show featured guests including Henry Winkler, William Shatner, John Wesley Shipp, Cary Elwes, and Joonas Suotamo, and this year more of the most memorable names from TV and movies from the past and present are slated to attend. Leading things off, The Doctor is In–The Ninth Doctor to be exact–Christopher Eccleston, star of Doctor Who who also played villains in Thor: The Dark World and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, will make his first appearance at the annual event, which takes place at Kansas City’s convention center at Bartle Hall, March 20-22, 2020.

Fan-favorite nerd, cosplayer, builder, and either your first or second favorite Mythbuster, Adam Savage will be making his first appearance at the show. Making their second appearances at the event are star of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (and Guardians of the Galaxy and Harry Potter universe actor) Darth Vader actor Spencer Wilding and Star Trek legend–Data himself (and Dr. Soong, Lore, and B9)–beloved actor Brent Spiner. After several appearances of past Superman actors, Midwest native Brandon Routh is finally coming to PCKC. He’ll be joined by other CW Arrowverse actors, Rachel Skarsten (in her second Kansas City convention appearance), plus Katie Cassidy, Kevin Conroy, Jes Macallen, Courtney Ford, and Caity Lotz.

Two Yutes? My Cousin Vinny, The Outsiders, and Crossroads star Ralph Macchio is making his first appearance at PCKC. Joining him are his co-stars from The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai, Martin Kove and William Zabka. Stranger Things fans can meet stars Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, and Gabriella Pizzolo. To top it all off, formerly James Bond’s Q and Monty Python comedy legend, John Cleese is making his first convention appearance in Kansas City. And perennial Planet Comicon Kansas City guest, the original Hulk, Lou Ferrigno will be back in town for the event.

–there’s something for every TV and movie fanboy and fangirl at this year’s show.

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borg.com’s Best TV of 2014

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December 30, 2014

We love good TV. Nothing is better than looking forward each week to a show you can trust to have great writing and great acting. We’ve made our way through several series again this year, trying out pilots for new shows and adding them into the DVR queue–if they made the cut. Many didn’t. We also re-try series that didn’t prompt us to watch in prior years. Most lose out because they rely on shock over substance and storytelling. Where we ended up was a list of what we love, and what we have recommended all year. These series are our Best of the Best for 2014.

Our biggest disappointments? The cancellations of the brilliant, futuristic Almost Human and the reboot of the TV classic Dallas–these shows were written by the best script writers around and will be sorely missed. We hope you’ll give some of the following shows a try next year, or catch them on streaming media, if you’re not watching already.

Forever — Best TV Series, Best TV Fantasy Fix, Best Actor (Ioan Gruffudd), Best Actress (Alana de la Garza), Best Supporting Actor (Judd Hirsch), Best Villain (Burn Gorman). Contenders for the year’s best series were easy to spot: ABC’s Forever or NBC’s Gotham. In years past at borg.com we have favored cable programming, yet this year the networks surged ahead with these two superb series. Forever nudged out Gotham for top prize because of its straightforward storytelling, small talented cast, superb dialogue, and fun situations. Ioan Gruffudd (Horatio Hornblower, Ringer, Fantastic Four) and Alana de la Garza (Law and Order) were perfect foils for each other in the lead roles, and each created compelling characters. Judd Hirsch played son to younger Gruffudd’s unsinkable doctor and gave us the best father and son team on TV in years. Burn Gorman’s chilling performances toward the end of this season were a great addition, setting us up for more fun next year.

Gotham — Best TV Series Runner-up, Best Supporting Actress (Jada Pinkett Smith as Fish Mooney), Best Supporting Actor Runner-up (Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock). NBC’s Gotham did many things we normally wouldn’t like, including taking source material and standing it on end and adding new characters to a classic story’s established cast. Yet it all worked somehow with this intriguing re-imagining of Bruce Wayne’s backstory. Catwoman and Batman were friends as kids? The Penguin was a mole and stooge for key crime families? Commissioner Gordon took Bruce Wayne under his wing as a child? All of this worked, yet the best view into Gotham life was provided by Gordon’s partner, played by Donal Logue (Life, Vikings), and Jada Pinkett Smith’s sultry and ruthless gangster Fish Mooney.

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Super Grover unmasked–Simm, Maslany, Fillion headline Saturday panels in San Diego, now online

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July 27, 2014

Nerd HQ offered up a great variety of panels from the best of TV Saturday. Here are some great panels to check out. After four years of 45 minute panels offered just yards from San Diego Comic-Con, many of these have become a source for stand-up comedy from the actors. See for yourself.

First up what may be the best panel idea ever, the voices and muppets themselves, from Sesame Street, Grover, Cookie Monster, Bert, and Murray. And Grover reveals the true identity of Super Grover. This one can’t be missed.

A Conversation with Sesame Street

Intruders TV Series Panel with John Simm, Mira Sorvino & Glen Morgan

Orphan Black Panel with Tatiana Maslany and Other Cast Members

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Mythbusters begins staggering 15th season with Star Wars special

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January 12, 2014

Last Saturday Mythbusters took on Star Wars story elements in one of its best shows in its long run. How do Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman keep up the momentum? By sticking to the show’s unique format, keeping the original duo of makers and breakers that got us hooked on mythbusting in the first place, and giving fans the only place they can see science presented like nowhere else. Giving us a season opener with the greatest space fantasy of all time proves the series can continue as long as these guys want it to keep running.

The first Star Wars element they pursued in the Star Wars special was the chasm scene in A New Hope where Luke and Leia swing to safety in the Death Star while being pursued by Stormtroopers. Instead of simply proving out each element–which they did by testing a grappling hook, and having Jamie swing across with and without a Leia stand-in–they went into full cosplay mode with Jamie in Luke’s outfit and Stormtroopers from the 501st Legion cosplay group acting out the scene. Although Jamie noted that in a life or death situation it’d be difficult to get that grappling hook to stick on the first try, they determined the whole scene plausible. A big win for Star Wars considering these guys usually find movie myths don’t make the cut.

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Tags: 501st Legion, Adam Savage, Discovery Channel, Grant Imahara, Jamie Hyneman, Kari Byron, Mythbusters, Mythbusters Star Wars special, Star Wars, Tori Belleci

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Comic-Con Day Three–130,000 fans, panels and lines

Filed under: Backstage Pass, Comics & Books, Con Culture, Fantasy Realms, Movies, Retro Fix, Sci-Fi Café, Superheroes, TV — 4 Comments

July 24, 2011

Day Three of this year’s Comic-Con was as big as ever.

Some great panels, including a Young Adult novelist panels focused on alternatives to vampires, along with book signings and giveaways of ARCs (advance review copies) for books not published until the fall–a great perk at Comic-Con. Larry Nemecek, Star Trek author and insider, led a packed room of Trek fans showing previously unseen photos and behind the scenes Trek information. The Mythbusters had a line waiting of fans an entire 45 minutes after the show started. The cast of Fringe signed autographs in the main area at their studio booth.

Some great finds on the floor including nice chats with Michael Dorn (Worf from Star Trek: TNG) and Marina Sirtis (Troi on Star Trek: TNG).

Elizabeth C. Bunce went all fangirl with Eddie McClintock, star of Warehouse 13 and Nicholas Brendan, who played Xander on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. These guys love to engage and are genre fans themselves. Brendon has a recurring role on Criminal Minds.

Celebrities look like everyone else, especially in a crowd of 130,000. If you’re lucky you catch a star moving incognito across the main floor. We caught Anthony Stewart Head (our favorite librarian/watcher, Giles, on Buffy the Vampire Slayer) who ducked away from his handler to snap a photo with Elizabeth on his way to a Merlin event. Awesome!