This past weekend, photographer Nadia and I attended New York Comic Con in order to see people dressed up in wonderfully nerdy outfits and to find a signed No Doubt snare drum. We were successful on both accounts.

This was our second straight NYCC, and I’m still exhausted from last year. Tens of thousands of Batmans and Doctors and Totoros cram into the Javits Center to try out new video games, thumb through rare comics, and meet their favorite graphic novelists. Being a TV blog and all, Warming Glow ignored Issue #187 of The Amazing Spider-Man, and instead paid more attention to the people dressed as Sookie Stackhouse.

What follows on the next few pages are pictures of our favorite costumes, the celebrities who were signing autographs (only $100 for Mark Hamill, who proved visually elusive), and the random pieces of nostalgia you can only get at New York Comic Con. (Or the Internet.)

Also: corgis.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ordinarily I wouldn’t have anything to say about the New Yorker, because I’m not particularly interested in reading 12,000-word articles about opera in China. But this year’s New Yorker Festival has something noteworthy: a reunion of the cast of “Arrested Development.”

On Sunday, October 2nd, Nancy Franklin will moderate an exclusive “Bluth family reunion” panel, featuring the creator of “Arrested Development,” Mitchell Hurwitz, and the cast: Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, David Cross, Portia de Rossi, Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat, Jeffrey Tambor, and Jessica Walter. [New Yorker via Gothamist]

Tickets sold out for the panel almost immediately, as there are countless fans of the show who plan to go solely for the Q&A portion of the panel, which is going to sound exactly like this: “What’s the status of the Arrested Development movie?” “Is the script done for Arrested Development movie?” “When could you start filming the Arrested Development movie?” And “Excuse me, do these effectively hide my thunder?”

I know a lot of you readers have probably already seen this on Uproxx’s football blog Kissing Suzy Kolber, but in case you’re only here for the TV stuff, I’ve got something special for you today: throughout the course of this week, I’m raising money for the Special Operations Warrior Fund through Fight Gone Bad, an annual ass-kicking CrossFit workout for charity.

You can read the details of everything here, but here’s the CliffsNotes version: the more money I raise, the more detailed and embarrassing my Tobias Fünke costume will be when I do the workout on September 17th, which will be documented on video and posted online. Every day, I’ll be giving away free swag to the most generous donors, while everyone who gives even a couple dollars will sleep better at night knowing that they contributed to the scholarship fund of a child whose Special Ops father died serving his country. It’s a great cause, and everybody wins in this scenario — except me. *sad trombone*

If you can, please DONATE HERE. Or at the very least, please pass this along to wealthy people with consciences. And hurry, before the Red Cross organizes flood relief for Vermont and steals all the generosity!

The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret (IFC, Friday) — Series premiere. The British David Cross series that humor nerds have been pining for finally comes to America. “Thunder Muscle! It’s like drinking ten lightnings!”

Teach: Tony Danza (A&E, Friday) — Series premiere. “Mr. Danza, I have a question: who’s the boss? HA HA HA DO YOU GET IT? DO YOU? BECAUSE YOU USED TO BE IN THAT SHOW.”

Archer (FX, Saturday) — A while back, FX acquired syndication rights to “Two and a Half Men,” which… ugh. Let’s not get into it. But the good news is that for every episode of Charlie Sheen in those stupid shirts, we also get an episode of “Archer” as part of FX’s “Totally Baked” programming on Saturday nights. I’ll say this again: there are two episodes of “Archer” on every Saturday night. Watch them and re-watch them and re-watch them. It’s the most quotable show since “The Simpsons” in its prime.

Saturday Night Live (NBC) — “Breaking Bad” star Bryan Cranston gets a well-deserved hosting gig with musical guest Tracy Jordan. Er, Kanye West.

Boardwalk Empire (HBO, Sunday) — Dude, Sundays are out of control: “Boardwalk Empire,” “Mad Men,” “Eastbound & Down,” “Dexter,” NINE HOURS of NFL games… it’s not even a part of my weekend any more. It’s just a prequel to Monday. Boo hoo hoo, I have to watch SO much television!

Four years after the show’s cancellation, people still get excited at the slightest mention of “Arrested Development,” so I figured I’d take some small news items tangentially related to the show, add exclamation points, and see what happens.

First off, David Cross has been added to the cast of Fox’s “Running Wilde,” the new sitcom from “AD” creator Mitch Hurwitz that stars Will Arnett (watch the trailer here). Cross will appear in the first seven episodes as Emily’s (Keri Russell’s) environmentalist fiancé, replacing Andrew Daly of “Eastbound & Down” in the role. [TV Squad]

Also, for what feels like the 800th time in three years, someone close to the project has confirmed an Arrested Development movie.

Read the rest of this entry »