San Diego Comic-Con 2024 – Day 1 Recap

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Aug 03 Posted by Kyle Nolan in Features | Comments

My official first day of San Diego Comic-Con 2024 was a packed one, that included activations for Abbott Elementary‘s A.V.A. Fest, Hulu’s Animayhem, FXSDCC, and Peacock’s Those About To Die, press rooms for Peacock’s Teacup & Those About To Die and FOX’s Universal Basic Guys & Krapopolis, and a panel/screening for the two FOX shows.

ABC’s A.V.A. Fest Press Preview

Thursday began with an early morning trip for a 9am press preview of ABC’s Abbott Elementary-themed activation, a carnival celebrating A.V.A. Fest. This made last year’s COZI TV Rozanne themed carnival feel like the Temu version! They went all out for this event. Even before it started they had people on stilts dancing and a party/circus atmosphere. As we waited to be let into the activation, we were handed a event felt like the premium version of the carnival that we experience last year for Roseanne and Cozy TV upon looking into the activation, we were handed a collector’s card featuring some random character, and a bag containing two plastic tokens to redeem—one for a Free Item and the other for a Sweet Treat. Straight forward we could see a slide into a ball pit with cameras to take your photo as you slid down. A metal slide on a very hot morning didn’t seem like a good idea, so we passed on that one. Behind this was a yo-yo swing ride that brought you up in the air, circling over the the activation (we also never made it to that one). To the right we could see a station where you could make your own Gregory’s Goofballs flowers to put on a wall in the back. Next to this was stage that looked like the outside entry of Abbott Elementary, so we stopped there to get a photo. Then we headed across the lawn to the strong man booth, where you took a hammer and hit the spike to try to ring the bell (I managed to do so in my second swing). After this we headed back to the dunk tank, but failed miserably to hit the target and knock the employee into the water.

Next to this was a station to redeem your Free Item token, where you could make either a customized hat or tote bag, selecting one of about a dozen patches to be attached to your item. I chose the tote bag and got a F.A.D.E. (Friends Against Drug Exposure) patch attached. Next up was a horse race station where you selected an Abbott employee to represent and when the bell rang you tried to shoot water into the target and your character would advance upward. Whoever got their character to the top first was declared the winner (bragging rights only). I had sat down at a Gregory seat, and won my bout. Next to this was a food station where they were offering us some fruit and juices (not sure if this was just for the press previw), and there was a cart where you could redeem your Sweet Treat token for either a massive lollipop or some cotton candy—I had to go for the lollipop, though it felt like it weighed 1 lbs. As we were choosing this all of a sudden the official Philadelphia Eagles Drumline came marching in, playing a whole medley of tunes on the stage we had passed when we originally walked into the activation. After they finished, we left A.V.A. Fest to head to our next activity across the street.

Hulu’s Animayhem Factory Press Preview

Next, we headed across the street for a 9:30 press preview appointment for Hulu’s Animayhem activation, which was back for the second year in a row, celebrating all of the animated shows available on Hulu. This year, the activation was set up like a giant Slurm factory (from Futurama). As we walked in, the walls were decorated with the characters from various animated series and lots of photo opps. For each show there were also various activities throughout the activation. The first thing we came up to was a station where you would pick up some prop that was related to an episode of Family Guy, and when you placed it on a pedestal, it would activate a clip related to that prop. I grabbed what looked like an animated paint can, and when I put it down on the table, a clip of the sexy wet paint getting out of the shower was played on the TV screen. After this, there was a station for Solar Opposites, where you put your hand in under a sensor and it would measure your stress level, and then it would dispense a box containing a Goobler stress toy related to your stress level—I guess I was heavily stressed and got a red Goobler (little did it know what was to come in this activation!) The next station was for Marvel’s Hit Monkey, where groups of five stepped onto colored circles on the floor, and then put their hands on the matching colored hilts of swords stabbed into a circle. Once the attendant said “Go”, we would all try to pull out our sword, but only one would come out, and that person would win a ticket for some extra prize. The winner of my round jumped the gun and pulled before they said “Go”—it seems like that was the key, whoever pulled first was the winner. Next up was American Dad, where they had Roger on an operating table and groups would gather around him and had about a minute to try to put all of his organs back into their proper places. No one seemed to be able to be to do this, and my group failed miserably, just like everyone else. Next to this was a photo opp with a giant golden poop from the show.

Next up was a donut factory for The Simpsons, where they were handing out free “toxic” donuts covered in green frosting. I must have tried to eat mine a bit too fast because I started choking. (That’s one way to get the PR folks to remember you—they were very nice and got me something to drink.) Once the commotion subsided and I was breathing easily again, we continued with the activation. (I did not finish my donut, though it was quite tasty until the whole difficulty breathing moment). The next thing we saw was a vending machine for Krapopolis, which was similar to the Family Guy station, where you selected an artifact from the vending machine and it would play a related clip. Next to this was a giant fridge for The Great North, which you could open to reveal a cold room with a replica of a building from the show . There was also a Bob’s Burgers station where you could get a video of you dancing with characters in various scenarios (though at this point I didn’t feel much like dancing). There was also a murder wall photo opp for Grimsburg nearby. Finally, the last station was for Futurama, a Slurm-tasting station, where they give you a small cup of green liquid (some sort of limeade concoction). And upon exiting the activation, you were given an 8-bit fanny pack that matched last year’s backpack, and your choice of a pin set, either for Futurama or for Solar Opposites (I opted for Futurama). If not for my food mishap, I would have said this was just as good or even better than last year’s version of the activation.

Press Room for Peacock’s Teacup

My next activity was the press room for the upcoming horror/thriller series Teacup, which is based on the novel “Stinger” by Robert McCammon. The first two episodes of Teacup will premiere on Peacock on Thursday, October 10, followed by two episodes weekly through Halloween.

Before heading to Comic-Con, I had checked out screeners of the first four episodes of the series, and there was a long list of stuff we were not allowed to talk about, including the basic premise of the series. So I was wondering what we would even be able to discuss in the press room. However, showrunner Ian McCulloch, and stars Yvonne Strahovski, Scott Speedman & Chaske Spencer gave us some general thoughts on the series, what viewers can expect, and the types of things their characters are going through. In general, the series is a thriller about about people trapped together in a dangerous situation with some mysterious threat after them. Look for our coverage of these roundtable interviews with the showrunner/stars soon.

FXSDCC Activation

Next I headed outside for a press timeslot for FX’s annual activation on the lawn in front of the Hilton Bayfront hotel. Each year there are various stations covering many FX shows. As press, we were given a priority line for two of these. First up was a “hellevator” ride for American Horror Story. We entered a building and walked down some creepy hallways to enter this giant elevator. Despite not really moving, it felt like we were going down, and the walls constantly changed with creepy and scary images—from spiders and other creatures to various scary threats. This proceeded as the elevator went down and eventually came back up again, and we exited back to the main lawn. Upon exiting, we were handed a “bloody” frozen fruit juice drink. It was a bit underwhelming, especially given the wait that regular folks would have to go through to get into this.

Next, we headed over to the station for The Bear, which was set up like a restaurant. When you first enter, there’s a photo op at the booth, and then you walk over to the main counter. After 8 people sit on the stools, the chefs come out with giant silver trays and lift them up to reveal some takeaway gift. When we went, they were giving away nice aprons that looked like the ones the chefs were wearing. I heard from other folks who had received hats, notebooks or other branded swag instead.

On the #FXSDCC lawn there was also a station where you could get a customized white FX umbrella that would be painted while you watched. However the line for this was huge, and they weren’t offering any press access, or even just a plain white umbrella if we didn’t want to wait for the customization, so we skipped this. Instead, we walked back to the main lawn where there were lots of photo opps for other FX shows, like the facade of the house from What We Do in the Shadows, and some free suntan lotion for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Press Room for Peacock’s Those About To Die

After this, I headed back into the Bayfront for the press room for Peacock’s new series Those About to Die, which dropped all 10 episodes of the first season just before SDCC.

We weren’t allowed to record video at the roundtables for this series, but we did get the chance to talk with disaster movie expert, director/EP Roland Emmerich, and stars Moe Hashim (“Kwame”), Jojo Macari (“Domitian”), Iwan Rheon (“Tenax”) & Sara Martins (“Cala”). Stars Dimitri Leonidas (“Scorpus”) & Gabriella Pession (“Antonia”) were also in the room, but we ran out of time before they made it to our table. It was fun to discuss the series with these folks, and the interviews should be posted soon.

If you haven’t already checked out the series, it’s worth the watch.

Press Room for FOX’s Universal Basic Guys and Krapopolis

Next I had another press room, this one for a couple of FOX Animation Domination shows, including the upcoming series Universal Basic Guys as well as returning series Krapopolis. I was supposed to be doing roundtables for this room, but there ended up only being two of us there for the roundtables so instead we joined the other two folks there on the press line.

For Universal Basic Guys, I spoke with Adam Malamut (Creator, Executive Producer, Voice of Mark and Hank Hoagies) & Craig Malamut (Creator, Executive Producer). You can find more information about the series, and my interview here.

And for Krapopolis, I spoke with Dan Harmon (Creator, Executive Producer), Steve Levy (Executive Producer) & Alex Rubens (Showrunner, Executive Producer). You can find more information about the series, and my interview here (plus a clip below).

Activation for Peacock’s Those About To Die

After finishing up my press rooms, I had a 4:30pm skip-the-line appointment to see Peacock’s activation for Those About To Die. They had held a press preview of this earlier in the day, but it overlapped with my pressrooms. The activation was made to look like a Roman amphitheater from the outside. Upon entering the activation you were created by several Roman characters representing heads of the various chariot racing factions/teams, and you are one of their star chariot drivers. We met with our faction head, who reminded me a bit of Maya Rudolph. She was fully in character, giving us tips on how to best use the reigns to drive our horse and chariot to victory. Originally we were to be the Blue faction, but we were told that one of the horses was “having a moment”, so instead of splitting us up into five teams of five, we were now split into four teams of six and actually driving the White horses instead. However, our faction leader assured us that we were still Blue in our hearts. We then proceeded into The Circus Maximus, where you could see the massive crowd overlooking the horses, which were mechanical figures on a track. There was also a chariot stand for each faction, with reigns to control the mechanical horse. If you tried to whip the reigns too fast, your horse would get confused and slow down, so timing was everything. Since we had 6 people per team, there would be 6 races, with each person getting a chance to drive the chariot for their faction. My White team (though Blue in our hearts) started off a bit slow, but we picked up steam in the middle, winning one of the races by a landslide. Then it was my turn, but I lost by a nose. Ultimately, things ended with us tied for first place. Afterwards we exited and were handed a pin and there was a full size chariot for a photo opp. The experience was far more exciting than I expected when I first saw the toy track. Each race was announced by the Aedile Ludi, who gave the exciting play-by-play that really stirred up the crowd.

Afterwards, I walked over to the Dexter activation next door, figuring I would give that a shot. However I quickly realized that they were only letting in a couple people in every five minutes, and it would’ve taken another 90 minutes for me to finally get through, so I bailed on it. I found out afterwards that the way the activation worked was that when you step into the shipping container, you are covered with markings and saran wrap for a photo opp. While it would have been cool, I wasn’t going to wait. The Slushy truck next door for The Penguin also had a huge line.

After this, I headed back into the convention center to look around before my final event of the night. When I got to the Cobra Kai booth, it was set up for photo opps. However it was 6:59 PM and the convention center was closing in one minute, so they wouldn’t let us in to take photos.

Panel/Screening for FOX’s Universal Basic Guys and Krapopolis

I headed upstairs for the Universal Basic Guys and Krapopolis panel/screening, but got into the room a little early, with the previous panel finishing up.

When the Universal Basic Guys was about to begin, they handed out bags containing a hotdog, a drink, and a hotdog-covered bucket hat. Taking the stage first were the folks from Universal Basic Guys for a short panel. During the panel they had two guys in costume come out, one dressed as Hank Hoagies from the series and the other as a hot dog. They told everyone to look at the bottom of their bags, and one lucky audience member had a sticker on theirs. The winner was presented with a giant $3000 check—though it seemed a bit convenient that the winner happened to also be a South Jersey/Philly person like the characters in the show. Following this, they showed us an episode of the upcoming series, which had the audience laughing and groaning (in a good way) out loud.

Following the episode, the folks from Krapopolis took the stage to talk about what viewers can expect to see in the second season, and showed a few clips.