This week is the start of Dragon Con, which means that in a few more days, my favorite channel on the hotel TV will be Dragon Con TV. It’s a place to watch the Masquerade or other panels you just couldn’t get in the room for, but it’s also parody commercials, better black-and-white bumpers than Adult Swim, and the adventures of Bob and Carl, Sci-Fi Janitors.
In the tradition of the last few years here on GeekMom, I asked the crew for a sneak peek at what’s new this year, and they sent us this piece from the new Poetry Corner series, which “pays tribute to science fiction and fantasy while exploiting classic literature (and the parody clauses in copyright laws),” DCTV fearless leader Brian Richardson explained.
This year’s lineup also includes a mock PBS-style pledge drive, featuring a call center staffed almost entirely by costumed characters. Richardson suggests that con-goers should pay careful attention to the on-screen phone number.
In more cruel-to-parents news, their 2014 song parody starts with “Let It Go.” (This may be when our love relationship turns into something else, DCTV. If I hear that song again, I might blowtorch a snowman.) “I had the idea in May, after watching Frozen on an international flight (which is, sadly, how I watch most new movies), of turning ‘Do You Want to Build a Snowman’ into a song about cosplay,” Richardson said. It’s “only” Anna and Elsa, but it’s not just “Let It Go.” It’s a three-song medley complete with the Broadway-ready vocals. “Fortunately, I am surrounded by talented women and we were able to pull it together over a few months,” Richardson continued. “Our friends in the cosplay community should relate to the video, and will hopefully cry with laughter (and not the deep, deep pain of costume problems).”
While we were chatting, I couldn’t help but ask—you know there are video ideas that have come up and never been made, either for cost or time or other reasons. Richardson gave me two. The first is a mashup of Star Trek and renaissance faires. Imagine the time frame between what we attempt to recreate at a ren faire and now. For Picard and pals up ahead in the 24th century, that time gap would be… oh, about now. Thus instead of fencing, pewter mugs of mead, and odd mandolin music, they’d get to enjoy all the fun of cubicles, laser printers, PDAs, and vending machines. Hilarity ensues.
The second would be an addition to their growing bounty of parody music videos, a Star Trek rap parody. They’ve got the hip-hop ready but are still working on the right actors and costumes. “If we pull this one off it will be bigger than ‘Comic Book Shop’, especially since we have two actors from various Star Trek television series lined up for the main roles,” Richardson said.
(Way to tease 2015 when we haven’t even gotten through 2014, Brian.)
DCTV is available beginning Thursday in your room at all five Dragon Con host hotels.
I love the idea of being able to watch playback from the Con in your room! That’s brilliant!