Sad news to report today. Sheldon “Shel” Dorf, the man who co-founded the now world famous San Diego Comic-Con International, died Tuesday from complications related to diabetes. He was 76.
Dorf moved to San Diego from his native Detroit in 1970, the same year he founded Comic-Con. He spent the next 15 years as a leader of the annual convention, which promotes comics and pop culture such as movies and TV shows.
“The guy just lived and breathed comics his whole life,” Mark Evanier, a TV and comic book writer, told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “The Con was built on his passion and his cheerleading.”
The first Comic-Con was called the Golden State Comic-Con and was held at the U.S. Grant Hotel. Today, the event draws 125,000 attendees annually to the San Diego Convention Center. In a 2006 interview, Dorf told the San Diego Union-Tribune he had no idea Comic-Con would ever grow into what it is today, the largest convention held in San Diego and one of the largest pop culture events in the world.
Dorf is survived by his brother. Funeral services are scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Home of Peace cemetery, 3668 Imperial Ave. San Diego, CA.
This past weekend marked the very first year for Wizard World’s Big Apple Comic Con. Though some may be confused, this show has nothing to do with New York Comic Con, nor the legendary San Diego Comic-Con. This is a new brand established by Wizard, which has been making waves across the country in places like Boston, Anaheim, and Chicago.
This past weekend was quite interesting in terms of turn-out for a first year show. Friday was OK, but Saturday and Sunday had a fair share of fanboys and fangirls roaming the con floor. You can always tell how good a con is by the amount of costumed heroes and heroines, and you can see for yourself after the jump, that they all came out of the woodwork for the show.
There wasn’t much to be said about programming. There were maybe a dozen panels over the three day period, most of which were just Q&A’s with names like Jim Lee, Joe Quesada, or William Shatner. There was also a fair amount of celebrity presence at the show, at least more than other NYC shows. Many names like Michael Hogan of Battlestar Galactica, Miracle Laurie of Dollhouse and even Billy Dee Williams were in attendance, and we even got a few one-on-one interviews with them to bring you later on.
For now, check out a photo recap of this weekend after the jump.
Hello friends. Due to the Labor Day holiday and because even your intrepid podcast team needs a day off now and then, we won’t be having a podcast this week. Sorry for the inconvenience. We will return next week with a brand new episode of The Flickcast, so be sure and be here for that.
To help you pass the time until next week’s show, be sure to check out a few of our previous episodes we think feature us at our best. Or, at least, are not quite as embarrassing as the others. Plus, take a nostalgic listen to how it all began by going back and reliving the glory that was our very first episode.
Until next week, thanks for listening. We appreciate it.
A few years back, when FX decided they wanted to branch out into comedy, they put out two shows. One was about a group of people with different eating disorders and how they were dealing in comedic ways called Starved. The other, which seemed pretty low budget, was about a group of no-good residents of the Philadelphia area who constantly get themselves into self-inflicted situations that mock things like race, gender, abortion, and all things “taboo”. Needless to say, the latter show made it past the first season.
The show struggled in it’s second season, before veteran actor Danny DeVito decided to come on as producer and co-star. Now the show is bigger than ever, selling out panels at Comic-Con and entering their fifth successful season later this month. A new clip has popped up online, highlighting season five, but more importantly, a naked DeVito.
Check out the blooper of a leather couch giving birth to a naked Danny DeVito after the jump, and enjoy the next season of It’s Always Sunny next Thursday, September 10, on the FX Network.
If you’re one of the millions waiting impatiently to catch a glimpse at James Cameron’s Avatar, then you may want to clear your schedule. Starting next Monday (August 17th) you’ll be able to get a free ticket for an 16-minute IMAX trailer on August 21. From The Hollywood Reporter:
The extended trailer, featuring an on-camera intro by director James Cameron, hits 101 Imax venues in the U.S. and Canada on Aug. 21 in a promo push announced at the recent Comic-Con International confab in San Diego. On the same date, theaters worldwide will begin showing more conventional 2D and 3D “Avatar” trailers.
Fans will be provided theater information and other “Avatar” tidbits via AvatarMovie.com. Visitors to the site also will see ticketing instructions and links to individual movie theaters.
Now that all the dust has settled, and San Diego Comic-Con is slowly becoming a fading memory, we wanted to bring our readers a look at some of the things we saw, people we talked to, and stuff we did during what we like to call NerdiGras.
We put together this little video to show you what we all went through last week, so check it out, and be sure to stay tuned for all of the interviews, specials, and news we have to offer you from The Flickcast team!
Everyone’s favorite serial killer is back, as Showtime’s hit series Dexter is about to start its fourth season as well as a new animated series of webisodes. /Film brings us the Season 4 Trailer, as well as a peak at the new animated series, Dexter: Early Cuts, both of which debuted at the Dexter panel at Comic-Con.
The fourth season of Dexter revolves around Dexter and Rita’s new son, Harrison. Deborah, Dexter’s sister, will have a former flame return as the Miami Police Department attempts to track down the Trinity Killer, played by John Lithgow.
/Film mentioned that the producers and writers of Dexter reiterated that unlike the first season, this new season of Dexter would stray from the plotline originally outlined in the books.
Dexter: Early Cuts will be an animated series of webisodes, centered around Dexter and his ominous past. We’ll get to learn more about his first kills and follow him as he perfects his technique. The webisodes will surely give some insight into this awesome character.
Dexter returns to Showtime on September 29th. Dexter: Early Cuts debuts sometime in Fall 2009 on Sho.com. You can check out the trailer after the jump.
There are plenty of movies being made these days that break $100 million in their budget, but sometimes it’s the films that are made for far less that end up turning many more heads. Such is the case with a film like this year’s Mystery Team. There is now a new trailer for the film, which shows exactly how funny a movie can be, regardless of budget.
The film is the first from the internet comedy team Derrick Comedy, and the premise is about a team of kids who were Oakdale’s Mystery team, a spunky band of kid detectives dedicated to solving child-sized mysteries, a la the Scooby Squad. Seven years later, the team is about to graduate high school and move onto the real world, but they’re still storming the playground, hoping to solve their puerile crimes.
The story feels very much like that of a Venture Bros. or an James Gunn’s Scooby Doo films (that’s a compliment) in it’s satire of child mysteries. You can check out the trailer after the jump.
One of the great things about Comic-Con in San Diego is that fans like to dress up as their favorite characters from comics, movies and TV. But really, “like” doesn’t exactly cover it. They really, really, really like to dress up and its one of the things that makes Comic-Con attendees special: they take their fandom seriously.
What better way, then, to honor these hard core fanboys and girls than with a contest where they can win all sorts of cool prizes? Fortunately, that’s just what the folks at Marvel are doing next week in San Diego. Sure, there’s the “official” costume extravaganza at Comic-Con, but that one doesn’t feature a grand prize personally autographed by Stan Lee.
Here’s all the info from Marvel’s own virtual lips:
Join In The Marvel Costume Contest At Comic-Con International
One of the many things going on next week at the San Diego Comic-Con will be a panel for one film in particular, which definitely looks like its worth checking out. Alien Trespass is a film chock-full of known talent from director R.W. Goodwin (X-Files) to Robert Patrick (T2: Judgment Day), and even Eric McCormack (Will and Grace, Trust Me). From the official press release:
Alien Trespass, a delightful homage to the great science-fiction movies of the 1950s, invades our planet’s digital world August 11 on Blu-ray and DVD. Image Entertainment is releasing the Rangeland Production which stars Eric McCormack (Will and Grace, Trust Me), Jenni Baird, Dan Lauria (The Wonder Years) and Robert J. Patrick (The Unit, The Sopranos); Jody Thompson co-stars. The scary-but- fun-for-the-whole-family film will be available for $27.98 SRP (DVD) and $35.98 SRP (Blu-ray).
Sad news to report today. Sheldon “Shel” Dorf, the man who co-founded the now world famous San Diego Comic-Con International, died Tuesday from complications related to diabetes. He was 76.
Hello friends. Due to the Labor Day holiday and because even your intrepid podcast team needs a day off now and then, we won’t be having a podcast this week. Sorry for the inconvenience. We will return next week with a brand new episode of The Flickcast, so be sure and be here for that.
Everyone’s favorite serial killer is back, as Showtime’s hit series Dexter is about to start its fourth season as well as a new animated series of webisodes. 
One of the great things about Comic-Con in San Diego is that fans like to dress up as their favorite characters from comics, movies and TV. But really, “like” doesn’t exactly cover it. They really, really, really like to dress up and its one of the things that makes Comic-Con attendees special: they take their fandom seriously.
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