Poppin' Off Early Edition- Best Teevee of 2013

There was a lot on teevee this year, but not all of it was good. This is my list of what I thought was the best teevee of 2013. (And please read at your own risk if you want to watch these shows but haven't yet. I have a tendency to let spoilers slip.)

1) Breaking Bad. Confession time. I didn't start watching Breaking Bad until about two weeks after its series finale had aired. Seriously. We'd had it chilling in our Netflix queue forever, but never got around to watching it. I DVR'd the last half of the last season (which is good, since it wasn't on Netflix) and waited for my husband to decide he wanted to watch the show with me. Once we finally watched the first episode, it was on. Marathon city in our house. It was such a good show and it ended waaaaaay better than Dexter. I hated Skyler and Marie, both those characters just bothered me so much. Loved Jesse, Walter and Saul though. I thought those characters were really well rounded, even for dysfunctional people.

2) The Blacklist. A spy-ish thriller that could have gone horribly wrong or horribly right, I definitely think they got it right. Secret after secret in this first season though, I hope they have more to build on in season two. I love James Spader as a bad guy (hey, even in Pretty in Pink he was a bad guy) and Megan Boone plays a good naive agent. I just don't believe for a second that Remington isn't Keene's dad and its bugging me about her husband. Is he really a bad guy or is Red just doing that to drive him from Lizzie's life?

3) Fangasm. I didn't watch the first episode right when it aired. I wasn't sold when everyone raved about how real it was, either. I waited a few days, went into my DVR and then fell in love on my own. Was it entirely real? Probably not, what "reality" show is? It reminded me of the Real World: Nerd Version. But everyone on the cast was lovable, and reminded me of people I have known in real life. And I loved that they weren't put up in a mansion-it was an apartment. And that they were working for something- a chance to work for Stan Lee's Comikaze, and not just being on teevee to be there.

4) The Sing Off.  It was only a two week (three?) event, but I loved it. This was my first time watching the show and I thought it was great. So many talented groups, I wish I could sing and dance like them! My favorite group was the Filharmonic (pictured below), but they were eliminated right before the finale. If you love acapella music or Pitch Perfect, watch this show next time it comes on!

5) 2 Broke Girls. I love this show. I've heard that its ratings have been slipping this season, which is too bad. Max is my favorite character, and I love all her snarky comments. And I like that she and Caroline are working a regular job while starting their own business and while Max goes to pastry school. Its not the standard sitcom where everything comes so easily, which is great because life doesn't come so easily to a lot of people.

6) Almost Human. I love me some Karl Urban, so when I found out he was going to be on this show, it became a must watch. Bonus points for the fact that its actually good. Hes playing his usual gruff guy, but it works. Overall, I think all the plots this season were really good. I'm not impressed with Minka Kelly though, I kinda wish they had put someone else in that role. I've never been a huge fan of her work though, so perhaps I'm biased. (she reminds me a lot of Leighton Meester to start, and neither one of them have had very memorable acting jobs. Except Leighton did have Gossip Girl, which I did enjoy). The kooky lab guy is lots of fun too, although the kooky lab person in a crime show is kinda overdone (think Abby in NCIS, Garcia in Criminal Minds, any one of the weirdos in the CSI lab).

7) Pretty Little Liars. I haven't read the books yet, although I really want to (especially since the show is supposed to be very different from them). I like this show a lot, its like a soap opera for teenagers, with a major spook factor. And while I'm almost thirty, I don't feel my mind turning to mush while watching it. The season ended with the girls finding out that Ali is alive, so I can't wait to see how they're going to play with that when the show resumes in January. And Ezra being A? I can see it, but I don't understand it. So I'm looking forward to seeing that play out as well.

And my on the fence picks are:

1) Ground Floor. Honestly, I only watch this because I have a big crush on Skylar Astin (and the fact that they've had him sing in so many episodes is a huge plus) and I think John C. McGinley is great. But honestly, its not that funny of a show. But I am trying really hard to like it. Because Skylar.

2) Ravenswood. I really love Pretty Little Liars, so I was hoping this would be as good. Its based in the town of Ravenswood, which is next to the PLL's town of Rosewood, but the world's don't mix too much after the first episode. The story line is interesting, there's just something a little off about it for me and that's why I'm on the fence.

What about you? What were your most beloved/hated/eh shows of 2013? Let me know in the comments!

Keeping Up With The Cons- Stan Lee's Comikaze and Bak-Anime

Hello Everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic Halloween. I know I did. Today's Poppin' Off has been replaced by a Con update.

As you may know, I have been looking forward to Stan Lee's Comikaze (November 1st-3rd) for months. I watched Fangasm and loved it, applied (and was denied) for a press pass, and obsessively read any information I saw about it. I thought for sure I would be going. Well, as it turns out, I'm not. I had hoped to go on Sunday, but my husband doesn't really want to, I don't have any friends and I don't want to go alone (plus, I have huge anxiety issues driving in LA)....and now to completely clinch it, my kids are sick. They need their mommy, so here I will stay. I am very disappointed, but hey, there's always next year :) Anyway, I thought I'd share what I think will be neat at Comikaze, and if you happen to catch any of them, please share your experiences with me! I love living vicariously through others.

  The cast of Fangasm is there! 

According to Molly McIsaac's Instagram,

 they will be at booth #1725 and signing
Friday 4-7pm, Saturday 9am-3pm and Sunday 9am-2pm. 

They will also be on the Hot Topic Main Stage Friday at 7pm
 for Fangasm: The Interns Reunite! Panel.

Photo from Geeky Glamorous.

I read all of these blogs and think these ladies are amazing. Its all about geeky girl fashion.

 I wish I could go to this panel. 

Megan from The Nerdy Girlie (photo from her site)

is going to be on the Super-Heroines of Pop Culture panel. Saturday at 12:30pm Room 301B.

I love her blog and think shes going to kill her first panel.

*The Geek Fashion Show on the Hot Topic Main Stage Friday at 6pm
*Blizzard Storytelling Saturday Room 306AB at 3pm (for the WoW lover in me)
*Her Universe "Year of the Fangirl" Photo Shoot on the Hot Topic Main Stage at 11am
*LeVar Burton on the Hot Topic Main Stage at 3pm on Sunday

Those are just some of the great things to see there. There are also Comikaze exclusives by Funko Pop!, Tokidoki and TOYNAMI (among many others). I hope all of you attending have a blast!

If you're in the central California area but aren't attending Comikaze this weekend, and are feeling like a smaller convention, then you might want to check out Bak-Anime in Bakersfield. Held November 2nd and 3rd at the Marriot Hotel, it promises plenty of cosplay, panels and vendors. The panels seem to focus mostly on developing cosplay outfits, but there are some autograph signings and a Sherlock panel as well. The guests scheduled are Jennifer Hale, Liam O'Brien, Sam Riegel, and Akai Sky. It costs $20 for Saturday only, $15 for Sunday only or $25 for both days. Children 8 years old and under are free.

Flyer from their Facebook page.

Poppin' Off- Nerdy Reality TeeVee

Being nerdy is a thing now. So like anything thats trendy, there are teevee shows about being nerdy. Some might say it even exploits being nerdy. I'm going to talk about a few shows and how I feel about them, and feel free to tell me in the comments below if you think reality nerd teevee is helpful or detrimental to the nerd culture.

*My Life As Liz (MTV)- This to me is the first reality nerd teevee show. Started in 2010, it followed Liz Lee and her Nerd Herd through her senior year in a small Texas town. By the time Season 2 was set to air, plenty of critics had come out against the show, calling it more of a sitcom or scripted reality show than actual reality (MTV prefers to call it a mockumentary at this point). I loved the show, I loved Liz Lee. I still think shes a good representation of a nerd girl and it was a nice change of pace from the regular trashy chicks MTV usually features on their "reality"  shows.

This is the Season One cast of My Life as Liz.

*King of the Nerds (TBS)- I was so excited for this show, and I don't think it disappointed. Nerdy guys and gals living in the same house, completing nerd based challenged for a chance to be the King of the Nerds. I felt that the guys that were cast for the first season fit the nerd stereotype a lot more than the girls did (with the exception for Alana. And when I wasn't hating her for being annoying, I felt sorry for her, because she didn't fit in at all). My favorites for the season were Ivan and Danielle (aka TradeChat! I post her WoW videos from time to time), and even though neither one of them won, they did get awfully close. And I think Genevieve probably should've been the winner, because she was nerdier than Celeste. BUT, it was a game, and Celeste is a pro gamer, so its really no surprise.

That's me with Ivan at WonderCon this year in Anaheim. He was such a nice guy and I was having a total fangirl freakout meeting him! 

*Heroes of Cosplay (SyFy)- Honestly, I didn't know this show existed until about two weeks ago. I mean, I heard a little about it on Instagram (its actually the reason I'm writing this), but I couldn't tell you anything about it. I was writing a paper on gender confusion and needed some background noise. I saw that the SyFy channel was marathoning the show, so I clicked over to it. Big mistake. I was sucked in right away, and it took forever for me to get my paper done. I've heard a lot of cosplayers complain about the show though, saying its too Project Runway and portrays the world of cosplay as cutthroat and mean. Well, I love Project Runway, maybe that's why I got sucked in? Lol, really though. I didn't catch that vibe. And as far as the cattiness, or drama that was shown, well......that's reality teevee for you. But, I am also not a cosplayer, so I don't know anything about costume construction or contests or anything about that world. And if I had a hobby that I loved and a show was made about it, but I thought it misrepresented it, I'd be pretty pissed too.

*Fangasm (SyFy)- Oh Fangasm, the new kid on the block. I didn't get to watch the show the night it premiered, I had to wait a few days (thank goodness for DVRs). I heard that this show is what nerd reality teevee is supposed to be, and its the second reason why I'm writing this. But......I didn't see the difference between this show and say, King of the Nerds. Here, they are seven interns, working to make Stan Lee's Comikaze a success. Okay. But they are still living in the same apartment, and are still completing nerdy objectives. To me, its like a nerdy version of Real World (awkward hot tubs moments and all). Doesn't mean I hate it though. In fact, I really loved how Molly was so disappointed when they went to the Geek Pride Day event, and saw all the skanky girls dressed as superheroes and actually said something about it exploiting geek culture. Its fake geek girls like them that give the rest of us a bad name, and kudos to Molly for pointing it out. I think there will be a lot of fun to come out of the series, and hopefully there will be a season two so I can audition :) Who wouldn't want to intern for Stan freaking Lee?!!?!

The cast of Fangasm.