Comic-Con is full of panels that feature beloved actors and exclusive sneak peaks at footage of upcoming movies and shows, but there are also quite a few Klingon-eyebrow-raising ones in the mix. Here are five of the weirdest panels at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend.
The famed Hall H at Comic-Con is where all the biggest and most exciting panels happen, and fans line up overnight just to get a chance to get a glimpse of some of their favorite stars or creators. Here is everything you need to know to survive the wait.
One of the key attractions at any Comic-Con is the fan-made costumes. NBC talked to a few attendees about what inspired their look and how much it cost to put it all together.
First Drafts of Rock takes a look at the original version of Peter, Paul and Mary's cover of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind," featuring Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick and Jimmy Fallon.
"World of Dance" host and mentor Jenna Dewan Tatum shares the time she fell off a stage while backup dancing for Janet Jackson's All for You tour.
Police in Connecticut made 50 underage drinking referrals and medical staff transported over 90 patients to hospitals, many for severe intoxication, during a Chance the Rapper concert at the Xfinity Theatre in Hartford Friday night.
Police said around 21,000 people attended the event, which had a special detail focused on underage drinking enforcement, sponsored in part by an “Underage Drinking Enforcement” grant by the state Department of Transportation.
Most people charged with underage drinking were issued a promise to appear summons.
Friday’s crowd was mostly fans in their late teens and early 20s and there was a great deal of tailgating, partying and heavy drinking, police said. Many of the medical transports were for underage drinkers who suffered severe intoxication.
A Lady Antebellum concert is scheduled for Saturday, and police remind parents to be aware of the atmosphere at some concerts so that parents and children can talk about making responsible decisions.
Those who received referrals will appear at Hartford Community Court on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
There have been some remarkable renditions of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" over the years, but on Saturday, a famous recording artist took things to another level.
Rapper and actor Ice Cube stepped into the booth during the seventh inning stretch and delivered a version of the song that would have made Mike Ditka proud.
There are no official records for reference, but Ice Cube's rendition may be the fastest one ever delivered at the Wrigley Field.
The song seemed to motivate both teams, as the St. Louis Cardinals scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning and the Chicago Cubs responded with three more to secure the comeback victory.
Jimmy Kimmel took to Twitter last week to post an update on his 3-month-old son's condition after the boy underwent open-heart surgery.
The the late night host offered a tearful plea about health care to politicians after he learned his son was going to need the surgery in May.
On Friday, Kimmel revealed his son is recovering and urged his Twitter followers to call on politicians to expand health care.
"Billy is 3 months old & doing great. Thx for the love & support. Please remind your Congresspeople that every kid deserves the care he got," he tweeted, with a photo of the baby grinning widely.
Draymond Green does not want Conor McGregor wearing Warriors gear as he prepares for his mega-fight with Floyd Mayweather.
Green took to Instagram Saturday night and called out McGregor for wearing a vintage No. 23 Warriors jersey, writing "We rocking with Floyd bro not you... take that off bruh @thenotoriousmma."
Mayweather showed his appreciation and commented "Splash for the cash #warriors #michigan."
McGregor's response wasn't quite as nice.
"That's C.J Watson mate. I don't know who the f--- you are. No disrespect tho kid, keep hustling and stay in school," McGregor wrote back. Clearly, Green took that as disrespect.
The Warriors forward responded Sunday morning: "@thenotoriousmma hahahahaha that number won't be worn again when I'm finished with it clown! Gold medalist, all star, DPOY etc!!! Hahaha stop it boy! Nate Diaz (Bay Area stand up) whooped you in your ring! Money May about to destroy you!!! Take that Warriors jersey off bruh you're an incredible internet troll we don't rock with you! Go train bum!!"
In a YouTube video showing the highlights of McGregor during his world tour promoting the fight with Mayweather, McGregor rocked a throwback Warriors jersey while training.
McGregor and Mayweather are set to square off in the ring on Aug. 26 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
NBC 7's Danielle Radin met up with the cast of "Midnight Texas" to talk about the show's upcoming premiere Monday, July 24, at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.
After ample build up and the promise of a dramatic face-off, Michael Phelps finally raced his fiercest competitor on Sunday night. But a computer-generated great white shark, to the disappointment of many viewers, snagged the gold in Discovery Channel's anticipated Shark Week kick-off, "Phelps Vs. Shark: The Battle for Ocean Supremacy."
In the previously recorded stunt, the trained athlete and the ocean predator went head-to-head (sort of) in a 100-meter race off the coast of South Africa. The shark ended up crossing the finish line in 36.1 seconds with Phelps falling 2.0 seconds behind.
Though the show highlighted Phelps' man-made advantages, which included an especially buoyant wetsuit and a mono fin to help him "swim like a shark," his victory was perhaps never meant to be.
Great white sharks can hit top speeds of 15 miles per hour in short bursts, according to National Geographic. However, the beasts have been reported to max out at 25 or even 35 miles per hour.
Phelps, even with his special equipment, barely averaged 6 miles per hour, as noted in the broadcast.
Adding to the loss, many viewers were disappointed with the set up of the race, as Phelps didn't technically race an actual shark.
The Discovery team recorded data of a shark swimming for 100 meters in the water. With that information, a computer-generated image was created to simulate a shark racing next to Phelps, who performed his own 100-meter swim in a separate, shark-free area.
While the seamless editing made it appear as though Phelps and the great white were truly racing in adjoining lanes, many viewers took to social media to express their disappointment in the simulation.
After the race aired, Phelps took to Twitter too, but with a different tone.
Until then, Shark Week fans will get to see Phelps again on July 30 when he spends some quality time with sharks in Discovery's "Shark School with Michael Phelps."
In "Midnight, Texas" being normal makes you an outsider.
NBC's upcoming thriller series centers around the rural town where supernatural beings can shield themselves from the outside world and reveal their true colors. The show is based on the best-selling book series by Charlaine Harris, the author who inspired the "True Blood" series.
Manfred Bernardo (Francois Arnaud), a charming psychic whose ability to communicate with spirits has landed him in trouble, arrives in Midnight after his ghost grandmother tells him the town will be safe for him. Manfred quickly gets pulled into the town's affairs and meets writer Creek Lovell (Sarah Ramos), whom he takes an interest in right away.
"I really liked exploring a lead character who isn't flawless, who is damaged, not inherently bad … but has selfish ways," Arnaud said.
While Manfred possesses supernatural abilities, his love interest, Creek, enjoys writing and dreams of leaving Midnight to find stories.
"Creek is kind of a small town girl but with an edge … her small town is filled with monsters," Ramos said. "She has come to feel at home with these people with supernatural powers … they become more of her family than even her immediate family."
For Ramos, her performance in "Midnight, Texas" signals a dramatic departure from her usual roles.
"I haven't been on a show like this before," said Ramos, who played Haddie Braverman on NBC's "Parenthood." "It was just really exciting to be branching out, and … fun to play an adult."
Manfred and Creek may live in a world where supernatural powers exist, but Arnaud and Ramos find ways to relate to their characters. Despite his character's ability to communicate with spirits, Arnaud says that Manfred's personality is similar to his own.
"In his disposition, he's not that far off from me," Arnaud said. "It's very hard and also very satisfactory to tap into something that's closer to you … you can't really hide so much behind the character."
"I relate to [Creek’s] journey," Ramos said. "She really has to transition from being a young adult … to being a fully-formed individual."
"Midnight, Texas" draws from author Charlaine Harris' book series, but its format as a television program allows the characters and the setting of the town to come to life. The actors praised Harris, whose creativity sparked the series.
"[Harris] has this ability to make really weird, unique stories feel really compelling and relatable," Ramos said. "This show literally has an angel, a witch, a psychic, an assassin, an energy-leaching vampire, and a were-tiger."
"Tonally there's something different [about Midnight] because it's incredibly scary," Arnaud said. "But it stays funny, it takes itself seriously … it deconstructs the codes of all the genres it borrows from. There's a self-awareness to the show that is a new take on the supernatural."
As members of the town fend off the intrusion of the local police department and the dangers of a biker gang, the supernatural beings ban together as allies to protect their town.
"It's just a thrill ride," Arnaud added.
Catch the premiere of "Midnight, Texas" on Monday, July 24 at 10 p.m. EDT.
The two strongest moments of the first season of HBO's "Insecure" grew out of different kinds of humiliation.
In one early episode, the youngsters who main character Issa helps in a program for needy middle-schoolers discover a bawdy online video of her freestyle rapping about her broken, um, sex life.
In the season finale, Issa’s boyfriend, an aspiring tech mogul, dangles a possible reconciliation after she cheated on him. She returns to their apartment to find his closet empty, save for a symbol of his past humiliation: the Best Buy shirt he wore working the kind of non-descript job she pressured him to take.
The show, which seamlessly intertwines comedy and drama, returned Sunday with Issa struggling to patch together the remnants of her life in Los Angeles.
When we met Issa (show co-creator, writer and star Issa Rae), she appeared, at least on the surface, to be in a good place while hovering around 30: She was a smart, calm do-gooder with a loyal boyfriend and a fun coterie of pals from her college days, including her best friend, lawyer Molly.
But Issa’s missteps on the job and in her love life – including sleeping with an old flame who’s making it in the music business – belie her solid exterior.
The show is at its best when Issa gives herself spoken-word-poetry-like pep talks in front of a bathroom mirror, and when she fantasizes about what she’d like to say to some of her over-privileged coworkers as they deal with under-privileged kids.
She’s not the only one, though, dealing with insecurities. Her now ex-boyfriend Lawrence (Jay Ellis) struggled with his confidence when his efforts to strike out on his own in the tech world stalled. Molly (Yvonne Orji), an achiever from modest roots, can't decide what she wants or where she fits in as she frequently sheds boyfriends from various rungs of the social ladder.
“Insecure,” co-created by Larry Wilmore, makes good on the promise shown in Rae’s old web series, “The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl.” The TV show’s focus on millennial women and its HBO perch invite inevitable comparisons to the recently ended “Girls.” But “Insecure” plays with a minimum of whiny narcissism.
No one could blame Rae if she griped even just a bit about being snubbed by the Emmys. But the new season offers another opportunity to notch some deserved recognition for a show about a young woman searching for a semblance of security and self, while trying to sidestep new humiliations.
Hester is Director of News Products and Projects at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. He is also the author of "Raising a Beatle Baby: How John, Paul, George and Ringo Helped us Come Together as a Family." Follow him on Twitter.
A new "highly-themed" thrill ride is coming to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, according to the Universal Orlando Resort.
To make way for the new attraction, the "Dragon Challenge" ride formerly known as "Dueling Dragons" will be permanently closed Sept. 5, according to an official blog post. The roller coaster’s last day of operation will be Sept. 4.
In a cryptic post about the new attraction, Universal Orlando said the new ride will combine a “new level of storytelling” with an “action-packed adventure.”
“This all-new thrill ride will take you deeper into J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, where you will encounter some of your favorite characters and creatures,” the post read. “It’ll be unlike anything we’ve ever done before, and it will be fun for the entire family.”
The Universal Creative team will collaborate with Warner Bros. and the production design team from the Harry Potter movies to create the new attraction.
Jimmy Fallon asks Rob Lowe's sons Matthew and John Owen a series of random questions about their dad to determine which son knows him best.
Jimmy Fallon chats with Chrissy Metz, who shares how she didn't even have enough money to get gas on her way to audition for "This Is Us."
Seth Meyers takes a look at the recent statements by Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law- and senior advisor, who said he "did not collude" with Russia.
