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Dragon*Con Report ThreadAn open thread for reports from Dragon*Con.
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Bill Corbett just tweeted he saw Larry Hagman on an elevator. Hope we get a pic of that.
Hello? Come on lucky attendees. Give us some reports and photos, please.
I attended everything minus the DarkStar panel Sunday and MST3K panel on Saturday (they mentioned it would be in a SHOUT release at some point and I really needed a day off!).
Bill Corbett had a panel in which he featured his screenplay about a screenwriter who was writing a screenplay about an screenwriter by day/assassin by night… it was as insane as it sounds. Bill played the screenwriter and Trace guest starred as the screenwriter’s screenwriter/assassin creation. I was in tears it was so hilarious.
Following that in the same room, Trace featured his book and had J. Elvis, Mary Jo Pehl, Beez McKeever, Bill Corbett, Joel Hodgeson, and Ken Plume (host of most of the MST3K events) all read stories from the book. There were technical difficulties that Trace amusingly made light of. Trace also had a hilarious Stan Lee impression (ELEVATOR MAN! HE CAN GO UP OR DOWN! EXCELSIOR!) when he jokingly mentioned he wanted Stan to read a passage from his book.
I missed both the Darkstar Panel (got lost!) and the MST3K panel.
The Cinematic Titanic panel Friday night was great. They fielded several questions, some very very odd, quite well. They were all on their a-game. They then showed a CT flick of the audiences choosing which after a recount “East Meets Watts” won. Afterwards it was time for merchandise and signatures.
I just got back from Sunday’s “Rifftrax Live… Sort Of” panel. Kevin and Bill did a great job sans Mike. They started early as the place was already full up well ahead of time. They opened with a montage of 2009 Rifftrax preview clips and then went to the “Grass: At your Fingertips” short shown at the last Rifftrax Live Reefer Madness broadcast. After that they opened for questions and answered them all with great detail. After a lengthy Q&A they finished with the 2010 Rifftrax preview clips.
Every event I attended they stuck around to answer questions and sign autographs (got everyones signature on my “You know you want me baby!” Crow shirt). They were all incredibly kind and joked around with attendees. Trace jokingly said to me while signing my shirt that he was going to cross Bill’s name off. All in all, it was an insanely awesome weekend and worth all the time and money.
Correction: I missed the Meet the Mads panel and the Servo vs Servo panel as well. Saturday I was immobile due to an injury and had to skip out on the days events (Meet the Mads and MST3K panel) and schedule conflicts prevented me from attending Servo vs Servo this (Sun) morning.
I was at the Darkstar panel and they had some good information about the game/movie. The death scenes are pretty humorous.
Thank you for the updates.
I am now, more than ever, sorry I missed it.
I went to most of the MST3k-related panels on Saturday and Sunday. Nothing overly new was revealed during them.
Kevin Murphy brought his “I HATE TOM SERVO’S NEW VOICE” banner to the Tom Servo panel, which he and Josh held up. I got a photo of it that I can’t access right now, but will see about posting later on once I get my camera hooked up to my main computer. Kevin and Josh talked about how Josh created much of Servo early on that Kevin took and built a lot of the character onto.
At the Mads panel, they went over the history of the evil characters, and how they grew early on from the simple mention in the opening lyrics into full-fledged characters. It was more about the evolution of the villains as the show went on. On the risque side, Josh outed his character as being gay, though that may have been more of a joke, and there were definite mentions of Brain Guy as being gay. Josh talked about the reason his character had a high-pitched voice was mainly so people wouldn’t confuse the voices of both Servo and Erhardt.
They continued to talk about how the Sci-Fi seasons were very meandering. The plan was in the eighth season to stay on the Planet of the Apes, but the costumes for the apes were so annoying to have on that Mike ended it there and they blew it up. Next was the Observer’s planet, which was open and white because they had a huge Planet of the Apes set and not much to do with it. Draping it all in white sheets was the simplest answer to filling it all in. Then they blew that up and the main trio were formed. There was no overall plan, just them trying to figure out how to handle the show with all the demands from the network for more Sci-Fi content.
The night time panel quiz improv show, Nuts on the Road, had all the MST3k folks in it plus Doc Hammer, Adam Savage, Jackson Publick, and a couple others. It was divided into three segments. The first and second segments had two teams of three people each that had different challenges. The first challenge involved each contestant being given a statement that was either true or false, and they had to convince the other team that the opposite of the statement. If the team got it right, they got a point, if not, the other team got a point. Through it, we learned that Joel once knocked out the two teeth of an audience member during a prop act and Frank Conniff is working on a new musical of Cinderella with Katy Perry.
The second part involved the panelists singing along with songs that would cut out in the middle. The panelist would continue singing the song and eventually it would come back on and if they were in sync with the song, they won and got a point. I forget what the majority of them were, but I remember Joel sang Satellite of Love, Frank did “Inagodadavida”, and Mary Jo did “Do Re Mi”.
The final part involved a member from each team being given a statement that they had to argue for or against. Adam Savage and J. Elvis Weinstein were given the subject on “Psychics are real” with Savage being given the “pro” side and Josh being given the “con” side. It was hilarious seeing a Mythbuster arguing for Psychics. Ultimately he lost the argument but won for pure effort. Doc Hammer was given the statement arguing for the idea that David Bowie wasn’t a musical genius, which he personally believes Bowie is a musical god, and that was quite funny to see. He lost that argument pretty quickly.
The first two rounds had two different teams in each one, and the final round had the winners of each team. Josh, Trace, and Frank made it to the final round, but lost in what I consider a fixed game to Adam Savage and his group. It was all in good fun though and was very funny game. It went on way too long though and was needlessly repetitious. I would’ve liked to see more variety in the games, instead of the same three being done in each round.
Still though, it was a great Dragon*Con all around and a MiSTie’s dream line-up.
I only got to see the Rifftrax semi-live presentation, sadly, as I spent my first day there completely exhausted and lost and missed the first actual day of the con.
I have to say, the Rifftrax was absolutely exquisite in its goofiness! One of my favorite riffed shorts!
I wish I could’ve gotten some autographs, but this was my first big con and was woefully unprepared financially and, well, pretty much in every other way possible.
Hopefully they’ll be back next year!!!
Great reports. Did Kevin and Bill riff the grass short live or did they show a prerecorded version?
Sadly, I don’t have many photo of the Brains at their panels but I do have a few of Joel & Bill that they took with me and the replica bots plus table that I made for the Con:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26011412@N03/4965752446/in/set-72157624771020589/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26011412@N03/4965148571/in/set-72157624771020589/
Due to other panel obligations I only got to attend Trace’s “Silly Rhymes for Belligerent Children” panel and the Cinematic Titanic screening over the weekend. But right after the prior panel, Joel came over chatted with me for quite a while about my replica bots. It was a great gesture that really made the con for me. He still remembers every part that went into making them and he talked to me at length about each one and their origins.
One pretty neat thing he mentioned was that if he could remake Servo he’d like to add a ventriloquist dummy’s neck mechanism that would allow him to tilt his head up & down. He didn’t do so back in the day only because the bottom of the food dispenser matched the top of the barrel really perfectly.
One VERY interesting comment that he added to his ideas for bot upgrades was that he framed them with the phrase, “when we do this again.” I wouldn’t get too excited though. I’m pretty sure is was just a figure of speech and the others did seem to be very firm that MST3K is not coming back when they were asked that question for 1,000,000 time at the CT panel. It did give me one second of excited, wistful hope though.
Both Joel & Bill were really great guys though and very kind in their comments on what I’d done with my portable table. Thanks for letting me share.
Here’s some more photos for anyone interested:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26011412@N03/sets/72157624771020589/
Fantastic job on the desk Kevin. It must have been great to have Joel and Bill acknowledge your work.
Thanks, it really was a thrill! Trace also stopped by and had a look at my Crow. I asked him if I had done the eye mechanics right and he told me, “Hey as long as they work, then you did them right!” I didn’t the heart to stop him for photo though because the poor guy had his arms full with boxes of the “Silly Rhymes” books and was in the middle of running off as quick as he could to the DarkStar panel.
Funny; my wife & I stood next to Kevin, his “Mr. B Natural” friend and his rolling tribute outside the Hyatt for about an hour before the CT panel Friday night. It was very cool to see up close and to witness the hundreds of people pass by, take pictures or just plain smile.
The best had to be the people who stopped — right in front of the bots — to ask what this line was for.
As for the panels, the only new (to me) piece of info I heard came from Joel during the big MST3K history lesson Saturday morning. The exchange went something like this …
JOEL: The tone was going to dark and different. I was going a holocaust survivor (CONCERNED LOOKS FROM KEVIN, JOSH, ETC.) sending a signal out there to see who was still around.
JOSH: And that’s a nuclear holocaust, right? Not the Jewish holocaust.
JOEL: Right, right.
KEVIN (WIPES BROW): Whew.
Yeah, I remember the Holocaust bit. Even I was wondering if I’d heard that correctly. It felt like Joel was going into some major deep stuff with the holocaust line. Thankfully he was corrected.
It was intended to be an homage to movies like Omega Man and Silent Running with Joel broadcasting the movies to try and reach someone out in the universe. It definitely would’ve had a much darker take on the show, and I’m personally glad it got changed to how it is now.
Frak, why wasn’t I able to type an hour ago? I’m missing a “be” and a “to be” … forgive me. Please mentally insert the correct words as you see fit.
A few other remembrances …
Bill Corbett said he felt the tenth season was his favorite of the ones he worked on because the writers jelled, the show settled into a groove and he felt they could have continued for another season or two.
Joel apologized to a fan who built a replica Servo (was that you, Kevin?) over the origin of the black detail pieces on Tom’s hoverskirt. Yes, Joel, they were Tyco Turbo Trains and not whatever Hot Wheels thing you thought. Joel looked it up online after a discussion with the fan and found that he (Joel) was wrong.
There was a reenactment of the “Pizza! Pasta!” KTMA spot by both Trace and Josh. When Kevin reminded them that they did an appliance store spot, too, Bill provided his own version of that script: “Washers! Dryers!” Josh noted that the pizza was not very good.
Mary Jo said she had been fired from many jobs before her MST3K gig. When she was asked to sit in the writers’ room, two shows’ worth of sessions went by without anyone saying she should stay or go. She took it upon herself to approach people and thank them for the opportunity, which led them to make the decision to keep her on.
At the Rifftrax panel, several topics were broached. 1) Bill and Kevin reiterated their desire to perfect the Rifftrax player. They acknowledged that the major barrier between would-be listeners and actual listeners was the synchronizing process and the player would take that barrier down. 2) They will continue to carry live shuffleboard games and bacon cooking as they try to perfect their live, online content. 3) They have considered riffing video games, but there are several obvious hurdles that they haven’t overcome yet. 4) Kevin says they have exhausted the films available at from the Prelinger Archives at archive.org (either by riffing them, eliminating them for one reason or another, etc.). They do, however, have hundreds of film cans of educational and other types of shorts at the Rifftrax offices, so they won’t be hurting for content. Also, it smells like a high school AV room now.
Many people involved with MST3K apparently traveled Europe, kissing boys.
Lastly, there was a funny discussion of the phrase “tits up,” of which Kevin seemed to be a fan. Hopefully, that will remain intact on the DVD.
@ #10
It was a prerecorded studio version. I assume the one that will be released on their site.
;-) Yeah that was me who Joel was referencing regarding the source of the turbo trains.
I found some other folks photos of the main panels on Flickr-
Kevin & Josh at the Servo vs. Servo panel:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/studiobueno/4965220395/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/studiobueno/4965819536/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/studiobueno/4965220103/in/photostream/
Here’s the legendary “I HATE TOM SERVO’S NEW VOICE” banner:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/studiobueno/4965220325/
From the Saturday MST3K panel:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thesidlingers/4965684756/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thesidlingers/4965084531/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thesidlingers/4965084163/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thesidlingers/4965083867/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thesidlingers/4965683436/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thesidlingers/4965683152/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thesidlingers/4965082983/in/photostream/
I have to say their Crow looked like he’d had a few too many RedBulls that morning… :mrgreen:
@3 Joseph, so did Trace have copies of his new book with him for sale? Cool! Was the illustrator Len Peralta there? Did he have anything to add? Was Frank or Kevin there?
@5 Tarantulas – who was on the Darkstar panel? I heard Trace was going to be there. Any other of the MST3K alums?
@7 Bradon – Please share your pictures with us. I’d love to see the “I HATE TOM SERVO’s NEW VOICE” banner. Classic. Hard to believe Kevin has kept that all these years.
I’m obviously kicking myself for not finding some way to make it to Atlanta this year.
@ #18
I’m glad you mentioned that, I almost forgot to talk about the artist. Len Peralta (Geek a week featured on this site for drawing Rifftrax and CT) was also there signing and explaining the process. Both Len and Trace signed the copy of the book I bought. I asked Len about his methods when he signed my book and he went in great detail about how he likes using all pencil and no digital until he gets to the colorization process. Really nice guy. Several of his cards were being tossed around as gifts during the Rifftrax panel.
Frank was there, I have no idea why I forgot to mention his name. He was one of the guest readers as well. I believe he read the “Pets and Parasites” story from Trace’s book. Kevin’s panel was cancelled that day so he didn’t actually show up to party until the MST3K panel the next day.
Granted this was the first time I ever met any of the MST3K alumini but it was an insanely good time to be had for me.
@19 mst3ktemple
The Darkstar panel guests featured the maker of the game, Trace and… Beez McKeever!!! She did a reading from Trace’s book at his panel and also joined everyone for the Sat MST3K general event as well. It was great to see her in person paired alongside everyone.
Yeah Bill told us that Kevin wasn’t going to able to fly in until Friday late night, so he was missed in the MSTie panels held that day.
@23 So Clive Robertson didn’t make it? That’s too bad.
BTW, can I use one of your photos from the con when I update the MST/CT/RT recent history section on my website? (www.mst3ktemple.com)
@ 24 mst3ktemple:
Yes! The D*Con guide had Clive Robertson on hand as well- I meant to mention him & forgot. Sorry :oops:
And sure, you’re welcome to use any of the photos you like. Anything for a fellow Michigander!
Unfortunately my camera isn’t with me right now. I left it at my fiance’s when I headed back to my house. It won’t be until this weekend when I see her again. I do have my cell phone camera which I used to take a few MST3k pictures.
Also, I remembered that, Frank also sang “I did it my way” at one point during the show which he improvised the line “I shook my ass my way!” as a callback to Misty Lee complaining about shaking her ass during her song and not getting a point because she was off rhythm.
@16: “Many people involved with MST3K apparently traveled Europe, kissing boys.”
… tell me more. :D
I was a questioneer for the CT panel.
The question revolved around the fact that Frank is a classic cinemaphile. I tried to keep it short and make sure it was understood it was just for Frank (everyone else on the panel hid under the table skirt)
If Frank could program an evening of movies on TCM his choices would be, in order:
Shane
Citizen Kane
Singing in the Rain
@29 Great question. I’d actually kinda like to hear how each of them would answer that.
For anyone still following this thread, here’s a link to my travel report.
http://forrestcrow.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=mstchat&thread=19425