Geek Shock

Geek Shock 65 - Zoombies

Hey!  Where did Couchcast go?  Don't fret, buckaroo.  It's right here.  We've given ourselves a new name like the one you give your significant other in your tenderest of moments.  But it's the same sweet smelling geekery, so grab your smelling salts...We're going deep.  Today we discuss improv vs. Killer Instinct, Awesomeness Reminders, Snakes and Lattes, Wii intimacy, Zomb1es everywhere, 3D without annoyance, Xbox Live with annoyance, better controllers for the colorblind, Spiderpaul, saving throw vs Lost Marathon, Maryland State Senator Nancy King is a tool and we'll tell you why, Commodore and a whole lot more, THQ hates you, best headache stories ever, and Lucas/Disney performs fanfic.  Big List: 7 scientific reasons a zombie outbreak would fail. So hide your Ding Dongs and prepare for a GEEK SHOCK!

Couchcast 64 - A Treat Comes Dancing Out

Paul dives deep into his past to recount the great Game Stop Hold-up of 2005 and the great sphincter Hold-in of 2010. But that's not all. It can't be all! We also bring you the Lineage of Craig Smallwood, Harry Popper, Doggy Poo Story - The Musical, Braga's bragging, Voyager rants, Everything's blog unfriendly in Philadelphia, Futurama's theorem, China's not getting anywhere fast, a Portal to higher education, Locke & Key on teevee, and a vote for Blinky. Big List(s): X-Men: First Class revelations, Paul Scheer's rules for watching Piranha 3D, and the entire play-list for Rockband 3 So pick up that feather and get yourself a treat... It's Couchcast time!

Couchcast 62 - Gungan Doody Poopa

Yeah, we saw Scott Pilgrim and we talk about it miraculously spoiler free.  From there it all goes downhill as we discuss Ray Bradberry and J.D. Salinger, stupid e-mail addys, a Silenter Hill, Star-Ray, a Hamill-less Luke, Klingon opera, Topless Raeliens, the end of a Legacy, X-Platt, Freakin' awesome-enomics, Irrational's Infinite, and phone boy.  Also, prepare to gag (not only from the scatological humor) for the Big List is 25 video game movies in development.  I am filled with loathsome.

Couchcast 62- You Know The Punisher !?!

Barry returns all scotchified for this look back at the the news that us nerds love.  It's been a bustling week and we've got the podcast to prove it.  This week we discuss Pop-Tarts, Digitized Dance, the raving-idiot rorschach test, the alphabet misunderstood by a bird, a Bakula-less Leap, V-moms, less Star Tube, more Star Cash, a 3 ring binder, all the damn capes, the Gamerator, Scott's Nemesis, paying to be good at games, 404, Donkey Mitchell, poo bug, and taking care of your feet.  Big list: pop culture's 10 most evil trees. Go get that dog away from your toe and tune in to this week's couchcast!

Couchcast 61 - Smurfberry Vomit

What a rough week.  Barry is down and out after eating some bad sausage, so we make due without him.  A week after Comic-Con and the news well runs dry.  The good news anyway.  But the S#%t news well runs freely and we're all gonna get a big gulp.  This week's topics include Creation Star Trek Convention jerkitude, Transformers the MMO hates you and western civilization, The Outer Limits of MGM, a trip down memory lane for midwestern dark rides, liberal hate costs $40 a year, We Can Remember It For You Again (and more modernish), Panshake, Chocoball sets the record, Superman saves a family - FOR REAL, At The Mountains of Cameron, Johnny Five is a target, Lawyer Thing, (record) - 30 = fraud, a holiday for Civilization, those dark rides we talked about may have never existed, Wii kills corporations, and Bungie rage-kills rage-quitters.  Big List: Taglines to put you off a film.

CouchCast 60 - Comic-con in your LaserFace!

Comic-con is over for another year, but you can re-live the magic through this brand-spankalicious Couchcast. If you missed it, we take you on the grand tour of the Grand Con in all of it's glory with such highlights as: Pen-face costumes, hot girls look at 80's Jeff Twice(!), Guido the RPG, new Battleship crew, all Avengers assembled, geeks smell the glove, it turns out the Goonies ARE good enuff, getting hit by space rocks, Hamilton goes with Chuck (if she wants to live), more grim grinning ghosts, Keith Urban as Judge Dredd, Vader's Bitchin' Camaro, Nerds make saving throw vs. Phelps, H.G. Wells hates sci-fi, Brad Pitt vs. zombies, Year One kills Ghostbusters 3, purp-ray, and Battlestar minis. Plus the greatest list of all time.... 10 Minor Star Wars Characters with Completely Unnecessary Backstories.

Couchcast 59 - Stupid Gets A Kick

Created from a lab discovered in a basement under our villa, this week's Couchcast gives a 1,2,5 punch to the solar-powered plexus.  It all starts off with the horrible TV shows we still wanna see on DVD.  We only think they're great because we haven't seen them in years.  From there we go on to talk about Comic-Con, Batman Engrish, the madness of King Lee, The madness of fool Phelps, Y the last bathhouse, 8 minutes(!), Darth Vader gets kicked out of the 501st, Bruce Banner gets kicked out of the Hulk, Pekar gets kicked out of life, Tron cares about it's script, Robocop vs. Dexter, D23's film festival,  James Cameron's cash festival,  Kevin's bacon powers, when we get to walk on the Boardwalk Empire, zombiewalk...out of a wrecked car, play MMO and win a sex doll, when I think games-I think Macy's, the FCC's f&#king decision, and Deadpool gets maxed out.  So, join the Whiz Kids on the Phoenix as the Voyagers head to the Saturday Supercade... you Manimal, you. BIg List:  4 slowly occurring annoyances experienced by gamers

Couchcast 58 - Pink Limpie

We tried.  We REALLY tried to get through the show without wang jokes.  But, with Paul on the couch... well... we tried.  But with the torrent comes all geek joy you can shake a pink limpie at.  We cover such diverse topics as the highest paid actor is younger than you, smelling like Bruno, Prince says something stupid... again, Titanic-eyed peas, Pee-Wee Apatow, Futurama...FROM THE FUTURE, Hulu-Plus for less, Video Games Live Tour paid for by viewers like you, Twilight finally kills somebody, the Demented web, Wicked Lasers, Sulu sex, Spidercat, place your bets on Who, Iron Sky, unregulated Free Enterprise, Smith's List, the Last Weiniebender, BP: the Home Game, Ebert comes clean, Bieber's Blooper, and Mumra.  A very annoyed Mumra. The Big List:  Top 10 Strangest Museums Ever BTW.  You can't have rubberwang.com . We own it now.

Couchcast 57 - But Archie, I Gotta Work the Pole

More fun than shoving a Zebra Cake down your gullet, The Ugly Couch Show Couchcast is here for all your nutritional needs.  We'll feed you with classic arcade cabinets, the big Steam sale, Final Dimension5nal Destination, Mafia Wars, Debbie Gibson vs. Tiffany vs. Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus, Pattinson the Impaler, Trolls 3, Myers tired, the day we get to Hobbiton, Donner's Woman, Suicide Girls commit Comic-con suicide, Marvel TV guru, Kellogg's waxy box, .xxx, Make-a-Falcon Foundation, Huluplus, Starcraft 2 : Aircraft 2, Saints Row nudity, and everyone's favorite family website: Lemon Party.  Sure we're a little high in slat/fat/cholesterol/nerd but we're cheap and easy to unwrap.  So prepare to bite down hard on this week's episode of Couchcast. The Big List: History's Top 10 E3 Screw-ups

Couchcast 56 - Walk Without Rhythm...

Welcome to the Couchcast where you can have it your way... but don't get crazy.  Our way is inventing new burgers for In and Out Burger, digital license plates, Burger Box, fake iPads, having it your way at SYFY, government pork vs. unicorn, TARDIS for tuppence, Avatar xxx 3D, The Weirding Way, sci-fi prop docs, Shatner talking about Shatner in a film about Shatner directed by Shatner and produced by Shatner, The Boys are back in town, Strange is back in town,  Tron toys, comics go big box, the red dot of death postponement, Lieberman just doesn't get it, the deep philosophy of munching dot, family box, Jack knows you, with a side of puzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzle.   Oh yeah.  Mum-ra. Big List: Top 10 People Who Give Video Games a Bad Name And one person who gives LOVE a bad name.  (Hint: it's you.)

Couchcast 55 - Wiener Games E3

All the boys are back plus one as Deb joins us on this E3 extravaganza.  But that's not all that happened in this Week in Geek as we talk about Keanu Reeves Day, Indy Jones BS, Extra Twilight, Laser Tag apps, Cageflix, Rockband 3, Kinect and it's games library, new price points, Castlevania, Twisted Starfox, 3DS, Back to the Future games, The return of Manos, Touchdown Jesus is burning, the origin of the great and powerful Oz, the price of homework in Massachusetts,  Starfleetclix, Mickey and Wolvie, Doctor Vampire Hunter, the thing before the Thing, and Mum-Ra in this super-full couchcast.  So put down your Wiener Games and listen up kiddos. Big List:  Nothing.  There is no third thing

Couchcast 54 - 3D Porn - In Your Face - Wang!

Lord, help us.  He's returned.  Barry is back from his wiener tour of England and regales us with tales of wit and revelry.  Actually, just tales about ignoring everything else in favor of drinking whiskey from the tap.  But that's hardly all.  We also talk about the Unsinkable 3D Cameron, 3D porn, Kardashian Raiders, those damn violent educational games, Harrison putting on the fedora one last time, The worst extended fiction novel ever, Shreck can give you cancer, upcoming Comic-Con panels, Keanu Reeves Day, Torchwood's gettin' sexier, Best Doctor Who companions, Our new captain of the dance team: Spiderman, FastForward fans blackout and this time on purpose, multi-colored lion robots, digital comics, Vader diagnosed, Superhero strong-arm tactics punishable under the law, Carpenter's long awaited return, Portal 2 Event cancelled at E3, Thundercat Ho's, and the fact that you've been paying too much for your Fellowship. The Big List: Sci-Fi Wire's Hot, Creepy, or Weird Sci-Fi Creatures Humans Have Had Sex With. Oh, and we think that Paul and Mum-ra are doing it.  Seriously.

Couchcast 53 - Pokin' the Vagina Bug

Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition and by "ammunition" I mean "the funny".  In this geektastic week we discuss perishable celebrities, good riddance to Tappert rubbish, Cheezburger Night in Seattle (I can has foul ball concussion?), Turtles fished from the Bay, the lack of need for more Alias, Metal Health will drive you to the hospital, Paul cranks the Bernie Higgins, Logan's Run takes another lap, one hobbit leaves The Hobbit, A man in black helps a man in blue, Apples that refuse to play in the Amazon, DC cartoons, one less Joker in the world, a year without Iron Man, SyFy stir-fry, FREE DINOSAUR!!!, countdown to Judgement Day, smart criminals get an extra year for being smart, the phone number from hell...HELL, the lack of window in your google, and Virgin gamers.  Oh, and a very stinky Mumra answers your questions. The Big List:  Sci-Fi Soldiers We Should Salute on Memorial Day. All this and vagina bugs on an all new COUCHCAST!

Aged To Deadly Perfection

It's Towel Day.  Are you a person who really knows where you towel is?  In this Ugly little Couchcast we discover many things about the world and ourselves.   We learn about the MacGyvermovie, why Bruckheimer can't keep his space junk off the screen,  why James Franco has gone ape-shit, why a bad spill will be cleaned up by a worse movie,  how to buy a horror landmark, the Mass Effect movie, how Zombie Meat is made (hint: it's aged to deadly perfection...in the graveyard), big-assed elevators for small asses, the end of Smallville, The rise of the REAL Transformers, missing Thundercats Scribes, Ninja rescues, LARP: the Theme Park, piano in Rockband 3, synthetic life becomes a reality, good riddance to Fox rubbish, video games help you to defeat Freddy Kruger, twenty dollar movies, Andy Serkis mo-clown college, expensive Tron games, Sinatra bio-pics, Fire and Ice in the hands of a master, Mumra, and much more. Big List: Top 10 Politically Charged Comics. Come join us.  Won't you?  Thank you.

Pedo Builds Robot for Gay Son

Sorry for the LOST week, yet all is not LOST as you will hear in this week's show.  Barry is on his "Wiener Tour of England" but we manage to get by with out him as he goes to bang some mash.  This week we talk about the Roller Coaster Tycoon movie, Universal Soldier 4, Battle Royale 3D, Blaming your crappy relationship decisions on your phone company, California not putting up with Texas textbook changes, the possible price point for Natal, alas poor Dio - I knew him Horatio, You used game buyers suck more than pirates, Charlie Kaufman's animation adventures, Getting gold from an ATM (We tell you how!), Full size Evangelion robots, George Lucas admits he didn't know what the hell he was doing, Possible Bill Gaines movie, Hurt Locker Pirates, Shia LaBeouf admits Indy 4 blows,  David Fincher directs for Walt Street, Time to return those Saving Private Ryan blu-rays, The Cape, Tim Burton= seaweed, and Paul gets excited about No Ordinary Family on ABC.  The Big List this week:  14 disturbing/frightening moments in children's movies. Oh... and Mum-Ra answers your question on an all half-new Couchcast!

CouchCast 50: Geek Scouts

CouchCast 50 explodes with the fury of a thousand angry suns!  Daverator joins the boys on the couch as we discuss Free Comic Book day, Star Wars Day (May the 4th be with you), Star Wars Jib Jab, URLs registered by Disney for upcoming  stage shows and musicals, The Dark Tower movie, White Castle candles, Commando remake, Batman 3, TomTom Darth Vader voice, X-Men: First Class, Mike Leyde, Bejeweled 2, Power of the Dark Crystal 3D, J.J. Abrams new movie, Cloverfield, William Shatner makes millions from Priceline.com, Incognito, Leonardo da Vinci and the Soldiers of Forever, comic book crime foiled by spider-man, the flash and two jedi, arizona state senate bill SB 1307, human-animal hybrids, boy scouts video game education, geek scouts, dear mumm-ra, and the big list: top ten unusual festivals.

CouchCast 49 - Cereal and Dreams of Cheadle

Whimsical and magical have been Paul's dreams of late, filled with gumdrops and sugar cookies and Don Cheadle, prancing in the spring meadow with butterflies and unicorns.  CouchCast 49, on the other hand, is a vile, hateful concoction of malice aforethought.  We talk Cheadle, Ghost Hunters, Supernatural, GhostFacers, Doctor Who, Matt Smith, Patrick Stewart, David Tennant, Super Street Fighter 4, Batman Live, Ring 3D, Friday the 13th, Leonard Nimoy, Goliath Tigerfish, Legend of the Seeker, Avatar DVD, Bad Santa, Alien Prequels, Torchwood, Marvel studioes third-tier characters, Spiderstyle, Olivia Munn, Ireland Video Game betting, schwarzenegger vs. californiz merchants et al, video game laws, saw series, doctor gordon, hulu, xbox channel, 7-11 buys used games, gundam cafe, slave leia washes cars, dear mumm-ra, and the big list: top failed cereals.

CouchCast 48 - Jesus vs. The Whiny Vampires

CouchCast 48!  The nerds-in-residence discuss John Malkovich in Transformers 3, a Mighty Mouse movie, Nicolas Cage's 9 foot tall pyramid tomb, the tragic death of Peter Steel, frontman for Type-O Negative, an Avatar Tree of Souls in London, Brannon Braga joining Terra Nova, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, Matt Smith as Doctor Who, Kick-Ass, 30 Days of Night and X-Files mashup, Garth Ennis' Crossed as a movie, Stephanie Meyer's Twlight series and J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series as challenged books by Christian groups, Downfall (Der Untergang) Hitler Parodies taken off YouTube, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Free Comic Book Day, Bionic Commando Rearmed 2, Boba Fett, Yakov Smirnoff, Nicoderm Stopsmokeski, Dear Mumm-Ra, and the Big List: 10 greatest fictional sports ever invented (courtesy of cracked.com).

CouchCast 47 - Dear Mumm-Ra...

CouchCast 47 is a scandalous wench of ill repute, covered in the foul discharge of a thousand murderers.  We talk about the star trek the experience prop sale in las vegas, how chad boutte is a douchebag, pinball hall of fame broken into, planet of the apes movie, tim burton, nintendo, pokemon black and white, starcraft match fixing and illegal betting in korea, the green lantern movie costume, stupidfight for twitter, atm thefts, nicoderm stopsmokeski, how we live in a big wormhole, chris hu's house burns down, star trek live at the kennedy space center, ted movie by seth mcfarlane, masters of the universe movie, unemployed skeletor, joss whedon directs the avengers movie, aliens in our midst, cowboys and aliens, open graves, open minds: vampires in modern culture, lord of the rings blu-ray trashed on amazon, and of course the big list: he-man's most mind blowing feats of strength and insanity (courtesy of toplessrobot.com). And making his podcasting debut, its Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living, scourge of third earth and sworn enemy of the Thundercats, in his new feature: "Dear Mumm-Ra". Mumm-Ra will offer advice on any topic you'd like to write him about, including dating, marriage, careers, finance, household tips, lawn care, and more!

CouchCast 46 - Roll for Stupidity

Roll for initiative!  CouchCast 46 is a seething, roaring mass of geekery.  We discuss Xbox Live's GameRoom, Chatroulette, Lucasfilm Animation's Star Wars TV Comedy series, E*Trade talking babies film, Stan Lee Media lawsuit dismissed, SiliFulin robotic tail, Comic-Con news: $753 million expansion of the San Diego Convention Center, Red Letter Media's Attack of the Clones Review, Joss Whedon directing Avengers movie, Ralph Baer inducted in to Inventors Hall of Fame, Craig Ferguson gets robot sidekick, rules of Scrabble are changing, Craig Rucka leaving DC, Capcom donating to charity for downloads of Lost Planet 2, Hot Coffee court settlement, FCC cannot stop comcast internet throttling, Asteroids world record beaten, DOSBox, XBox 360 ability to save data to USB drives, Tron Legacy sequels, XBox Live Arcade Award Winners, and the Big List: The 8 Most Common Ways D&D Characters Die (courtesy of toplessrobot.com).

CouchCast 45 - Superpong & Farm Animals

CouchCast 45 is a serendipitous hootenanny of flagrant excess and geekotronic ineptitude.  I have no ideas what that means. We discuss April fools, Godzilla, Spy hunter, Burger King's 404 Marketing, Iron Man 2 cologne, edible gold food spray, anti-piracy internship from Warner Bros, Gamestop lawsuit over used games, James Cameron's disdain for DVDs, FearFest, 24 and Scrubs cancelled, Malificient from Sleeping Beauty, Amazon may launch a Steam-like service, farm animals, convenience store robbery with a bat'leth, hardcore gaming, RIAA litigation against pirates, Voqha the Klingon Warrior, Classic Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, things we learned from video games, Cloverfield, Pac-Man cartoon, Saturday Supercade, and the Big List: insane fan theories that actually make great movies better. Don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter on UglyCouchShow.com, and if you like what you're hearing, donate to the show!

CouchCast 44: I Rode My Sackhoff

It's CouchCast 44!  Apologies for it being delivered to you a couple days late, but even geeks get caught up doing real life stuff now and then.  We discuss the latest in geek news including Rear Gear, Brannon Braga, Blockbuster's bankruptcy, bhut jolokia ghost chili peppers, Chris Evans as Captain America, Jonah Piretti, NASA's office of planetary protection, Michael Atkinson, Green Lantern, Warner Bros, Battlestar Galactica: The Ride in Universal Singapore, Hogwarts set caught on fire, Nicholas Brandon arrested, Scream 4, Night of the Living Trekkies, Tim Burton and the Addams Family, Camelot on Starz, Indiana University and World of Warcraft, and the big list: undeniable similarites between nerds and sports fans.

CouchCast 43: Inside the Actor's Pyramid

CouchCast 43 is a sloppy drunken harlot crying in the bathroom because she didn't get a birthday cake.  We discuss Barry's whisky and wiener tour of England, London Expo, Batman: Arkham Asylum - Game of the Year Edition, 3D support for games, Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver, the Pokewalker, Avatar on DVD, He-Man booze, nocturnal emissions, Temuera Morrison as Abin Sur in Green Lantern, Peter Graves, Improv Comedy, Hugo Weaving as Red Skull in Captain America, Patton Oswalt's Serenity comic Float Out, Activision's War for Cybertron game, Comic-Con News, a new Battlestar Galactica project, world-ending asteroids, James Lipton and the Thundercats theme, Pac-Man Battle Royale, Xanadu Las Vegas, and the Big List: the 9 Real Life Levels of Hell.

CouchCast 42: He-Man Walks Into A Bar...

Dave-erator joins the crew on the ugly couch as we discuss the week in geek: Lady Gaga track pack for Rock Band, Battlestar Galactica browser based MMO, Capcom Street Fighter IV for iPhone, In The Beginning by John Fusco and David Cunningham, Fright Night remake by Craig Gillespie and Marti Noxon, Marvel's ultimate comic fan's TV, a relaunched Police Academy movie, Reign of Fire, Pet Sematary remake, J. Michael Straczynski writing Superman and Wonder Woman, King Kong coming back to Universal Studios, new Futurama episodes on Comedy Central, Tron: Legacy, Tron animated series on Disney Channel, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Felicia Day stars in Red on Syfy, Alice in Wonderland, Caprica, Rock Band 3, Chile earthquake moves the city of Concepcion 10 feet, Mcdonald's McDelivery service in Singapore, Sophia Heesch identifies Lego Star Wars figures with her mouth, William Shatner's myouterspace.com social network, LactoPharma's Recharge ice cream, 600 million tons of ice found on the moon, and the Big List: Top 7 ways games can transform you into a superior human being.

CouchCast 41 - Bah Weep Granah Weep Ninni Bong

Bah Weep Granah Weep Ninni Bong!  Episode 41 is a slathering amphibious mass of bile and fecundity.  Let's talk some geek. We've got nerds vs jocks, the trem "hella" as a unit of measurement, taylor lautner, max steel, stretch armstrong, hasbro, mattel, club eternia, he-man, skeletor, lex luthor, robert kirkman, walking dead, sonic boycott, buy nothing day, showgirls 2, george r. r. martin, song of ice and fire, game of thrones, wheel of time, harry potter, dumbledore's homosexuality, max headroom, new superman script, the man of steel, abraham lincoln: vampire hunter, chile earthquake shifts earth's axis, playstation network glitched, y2k bug in ps3, craig ferguson, mythbusters, robot sidekick, imahara, twitter, 4 million of comics on ebay, my hair is a bird, your argument is invalid, apple sweatshop, apple child labor, iceberg breaks off antarctica, world ending, global catastrophe, lara croft way, derby street name, university of mississippi mascot, admiral ackbar, ole miss, ghoulies, earl's court tube station, police box, doctor who, fraggle rock  comics, fraggle rock, dark crystal, dungeons and dragons online, micro-transactions, star trek online, star trek online report, little big planet, 9 greatest 80's sleazebags, elan  sleazebaggano, wandering geek and paul is all gay and stuff!

The Truth About Comic-Con Leaving San Diego

A candid interview with Comic-Con's Director of Marketing & PR regarding the rumors about Comic-Con International's possible change of venue Barry Robb - www.uglycouchshow.com February 28, 2010 Every summer for over 40 years, geeks of all walks of life have descended upon San Diego by the tens of thousands to attend Comic-Con International, a non-stop 5-day mega-convention celebrating comics, movies, pop culture and the visual arts.  It's almost a required coming-of-age pilgrimage for any fan of pop culture.  And for 40 years, San Diego has proudly hosted Comic-Con and made welcome its 125,000+ visitors, but recent rumors and speculation about the host city of choice being subject to change have left long time convention attendees wondering where they will be going on their yearly vacation after 2012, when the convention's contract with the San Diego Convention Center expires. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Anaheim have reached out to CCI in hopes of luring the convention away from San Diego with promises of more convention space, more hotel rooms, discounted rates for attendees and more.  However, San diego area businesses are making their own efforts to keep the massive convention right where it is.  Comic-Con organizers are expected to make a decision about the future of the con within a few months. We asked David Glanzer, PR spokesman for Comic-con International, to help shed some light on these rumors. --------------------------------- Barry: Hey comic-con fans, Barry here from the ugly couch show. We're talking with David Glanzer, Director of Marketing and Public Relations for Comic-Con International.  David, welcome and thanks for speaking with us. David: Well, thank you for having me! Barry: Comic-Con's contract with the San Diego Convention Center expires in 2012, and there's been some rumors online that Comic-Con might be leaving San Diego in 2013.  Rather than listen to baseless rumors and speculations, we thought we'd go right to the source and ask, what's going on? David: Well, you're correct; our contract expires in 2012.  One of the things we've been dealing with is a limit in terms of space...We can't allow any more people in the building.. and we can't allow any more exhibitors to display on our floor.  Those are two really big issues for us, primarily because that's our main sources of income.  When you cap your source of income, but your expenses continue to rise, obviously at some point you're going to upside down.  what's happened over the last few months is convention facilities in other cities have put forth proposals basically saying why they think their city woudl be a good fit for Comic-Con. Barry:  It's true that San Diego is the nation's most walkable city.  It's not uncomfortably hot at the end of july, and there's a nice breeze from the ocean.  If that were the only factor, I'm sure the con wouldn't even consider moving, but unfortunately it's not.  Can you tell us some of the pros and cons are, from comic-con international's perspective, of keeping comic-con in San Diego? David:  You bring up a very good point, and that's that there's a great deal San Diego has to offer.  One of our big problems is that we have a finite amount of space.  One of the things we've done at the convention cetner downtown is to erect tents to try to maximize space behind the center.  It's not inexpensive to do that, but we just need more and more space. Barry:  I'm sorry; are you talking about the tents outside of Hall H? David:  No, no, tents outside on the mezzanine level.  A lot of people don't see them, but if you were to walk on the the mezzanine level or in the sales pavillion area, in the back there's some areas that are...I think any other convention would use that as a smoking area or a lounge area.  In many of those areas we've erected tents to handle overflow from autograph signings or segments of registration or things of that nature.  We've really trying to maximize the real estate that they have...one of things that we also did in 2009 was utilize one of the ballroom in an area hotel, and it seemed to work well.  We has some programming over there, and our attendees seemed to not really mind walking across the street and that worked out well for us.  We're looking at other ways to mitigate the issue of having to cap attendance. Barry:  The main events auditorium has steadily increased in size over the last few years, moving from halls 6cdef, to ballroom 20, to enormous hall h.  We've got some footage of fans lining up hours in advance, some days before, to see the presentations.  Is there a possibility of expanding the main events room or even moving it to petco park across the street? David:  Any of these things are things we're looking at. One of the issues we are faced with is hard dollars.   When you use a facility that is not a part of the convention center, typically you have to pay for that.  Now you're saying that...how much is something... can we defray the cost of spending x amount of dollars on this by increasing attendance, or exhibit space, how many more people do we have to get in to defray that cost...  it really is a math problem.  It's something that the city is putting a good effort forth to address.  They've met with local hotels, they've met with the city itself all the way from the mayor's office all the way on down...they've put together a proposal as well that they hope will mitigate some of the issues we currently have.  But I should say that these other cities have done that as well. Barry:  It's said that Anaheim, L.A., and Las Vegas are attempting to lure Comic-Con International away from San Diego.  What's been put on the table? David:  I really can't.  I don't think it would be fair to talk about their specific proposals.  But what I can say is, each one of the proposals we've recieved really does attempt to address the concerns that we have, and that's everything from the size of the facility, the number of hotel rooms that are available, the issues of meeting space... Each proposal we've recieved, it's obvious they've put in a great deal of time, effort and energy in really trying to dissect the issues we are faced with trying to address those issues.  And San Diego has as well.  What we're really tasked with now is trying to find out which proposal best addresses all those issues.  Whichever decision we end up making will ultimately have to be the one that is most beneficial to the event. Barry:  4 day passes for comic-con were sold out back in november, and single day passes for friday and saturday are already sold out.  In the short term, is there a solid plan for the Convention Center to expand to meet the needs of the con, and if it does, will you increase the cap on the number of tickets sold? David:  Yes, to answer your question first, there is...right now the mayor has put together a task force that looked at the issue of expanding the convention center.  That task force said that it would be a good idea to expand the convention center.  And that expansion is not just for Comic-Con.  It makes sense for the center to expand so that they can hold not only large events but multi-events in the same facility.  If you go to some convention centers around the country, especially Orlando and some others, there are these nice sized facility where you can have two or three events running concurrently and not really have to feel like you're overcrowded.  So I think that could certainly help San Diego... while it may attrract a Comic-Con or other big event, they should be able to handle a couple of other smaller events at the same time too, which will keep the facility booked and will keep downtown businesses happy and of course the tax revenue from what people spend will help the city in the long run. now as far as the second part of your question- Barry: Well, let me expand on that real quick.  In the San Diego Union-Tribune it was said that task force that you spoke of endorsed a $753 million proposal to expand the convention center by 1.27 million square feet, including 385,000 square feet of new exhibit space but they said that there's no guarantee that it'll happen.  A question would be, is that based on whether or not Comic-con stays, or would it be something that they would do to get Comic-con to stay? David: Neither.  I think Comic-Con factored into that.  But I think it was only one of many different factors.  Meaning that I think that the task force looked at the size of San Diego, the size of the facility, the fact that I think last year when we had an economic downturn most convention facilities had trouble with bookings, but San Diego did not, or not as much as other cities, and in fact San Diego had to turn away some conventions because they just didn't have the facility size.  I think the task force loked at a bunch of different variables, obviously Comic-Con was one of them, but I don't think Comic-Con was the deciding factor for them.  Their determination was that by spending this money, by being able to do this, it will help the city in the long run.  And if it keeps Comic-Con in San Diego that's icing on the cake.  The paper is correct in that, because the task force and the mayor have said that this is a good idea, this is something we want to move forward on, now there's different governmental agencies that have to address the situation, and part of that is the port district, ...where the money will come from for that expansion ...the nuts and bolts of making that happen.  It's still potentially a long process. Barry:  And the second part of that question from before was will you increase the cap on the number of tickets sold in the short term. David:  In the short term it's depending on if we can alleviate the crowds on the floor.  In our experiment last year of having a big ballroom where we had programming, we were able to pull a few thousand people off the floor at any given time.  Right now three of local hotels are talking about letting us utilize some of their big ballroom space.  If that ends up happening, if we're able to put a major program, or at least a lot of our programming in those area hotels, that has the benefit of dragging people off the floor.  If that is the case, then we could be able to go ahead allow more attendees in, which, you know, could be a good thing.  But we don't know if that will work.  Some of these are unknown variables to be honest with you.  If none of that happens, we will always be probably around 125 to 175 thousand people in the facility, and the reason being is, we have that finite space.  That number can go up or down by a few thousand probably, depending on the configuration of the space.  As an example, people say, "Well, exactly how many people can fit in the convention center?"  that's like saying, "How long is a piece of string?"  And the reason for that is because, if you had just one booth that was a 10 by 10 foot booth in all open space,well you could fit maybe half a million or close to a million people in there, but that's not the case obviously.  And what happens each year is the room is configured differently depending upon the exhibitors who come or go, expand or contract their booth spaces.  So it's always going to around the 125 but it may fluctuate a bit depending on the configuration of the floor. Barry:  Is there any negative to splitting parts of the con up?  Like, putting some events in some buildings and putting some events in others? David:  Well, yeah, if we had our choice, we'd love to be in just one facility.  That's the way it's always been.  We've certainly seen and been to other events that have basically taken over part of the city.  When San Diego hosted the Superbowl a few years back, the whole downtown corridor was superbowl headquarters.  It's really interesting, when you are downtown for Comic-Con, you have that same feeling, although it isn't offical.  Meaning, I can walk around or any attendee can walk around and you will see a good majority of the people in the downtown area wearing badges or carrying bags. Barry:  Yeah, I feel like I'm at Comic-con when i'm walking around the Gaslamp. David:  Exactly.  The thought now is, well maybe because we don't have the space in the facility, maybe we go ahead and do specific programs at different hotels, and thereby making comic-con feel even larger still, benefiting from those hotels and restaurants and meeting spaces and things like that...that's the idea.  But will it work?  We don't know.  That's what we have to weigh right now.  What is the best scenario when you have other facilities saying, "Look, you can try that experiment, or you can come our facility, and everything can stay in one building." Barry:  Ok.  Well that's all the questions we had for you, David.  If there's anything you'd like to say to the Comic-Con fans out there before we let you go... David:  Thank you for your support!  Honestly, I think it's amazing that this has gotten as much press as it has.  One of the things that I think is really heartening to all of us in the committee staff and the board is, there's a lot of support out there from the fans.  It's amzing that this show is 40 years old and now for the first time really we're being told how much we're loved and how much the city wants us.  we really appreciate that.  And that is primarily because of the people who come to our convention.  We have a unique event, we have an event that is homegrown and it is what it is because of the people who come every year to it, and for that we're incredibly grateful. ----------------------------- For more information about Comic-Con International 2010 including our Comic-Con Survival Guide, visit http://www.uglycouchshow.com

CouchCast 40 - Los San Anaheim Comic-Con?

Like a one legged monkey butler on a benzedrine high, it's CouchCast 40.  We're talking about a Doc Savage movie, a Missile Command movie, the A-Team comic, James' Cameron's Avatar prequel story, Willow novels, the possibility of Comic-Con moving away from San Diego, Joss Whedon & Morgan Spurlock's comic-con documentary, Dungeons and Dragons with Porn Stars, DC Entertainment, Shit My Dad Says starring William Shatner, Terra Nova, Doctor Superknives vs. Robot Dinosaurs, Wil Wright, iBoobs, Apple's iPhone App store, porn on the las vegas strip, "me who can't stop his right hand and childhood sister" (japanese masturbation video game), starcraft 2 beta keys for sale, civilization 5, the first games we ever bought for the pc, commodore 64 games, bill budge's pinball construction set, pinmame, star trek: the next generation, gates mcfadden, the naked now, and the big list: more things we learned from playing video games. Go to uglycouchshow.com and subscribe to our newsletter!

Mike Sacks Interview

The Famous Paul interviews Mike Sacks, author of And Here's the Kicker: Conversations with 21 Top Humor Writers on their Craft.

CouchCast 39 - ReTardis and Reman Noodles

Couchcast 39 is an obstinate, pretentious bitch, with a hints of oak and despair, and a black currant afterthought.   Vernon Wilmer and the Dave-erator join us on the ugly couch to discuss the Edward Cullen ManPillow, Jaws remake in 3d, Roland Emmerich taking on Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, Computer Engineer Barbie, girls with glasses, fang bangers, thought crimes and free speech on Xbox Live, upcoming Xbox 360 releases, Pac-Man, Blackstar, Natal, UK cinemas boycotting Alice in Wonderland, Dean Koontz, Kevin Smith vs. Southwest Airlines, Degrassi, Zombieland, Star Trek Online, Giles Aston, Doctor who's (re)Tardis, Robot Unicorn Attack, Top Reman Noodles, and the Big List: Things We've Learned From Video Games!

CouchCast 38 - Attack of the Sequels

It's CouchCast 38: the Attack of the Sequels!  We talk Confessions of a Super Hero, costumed characters on the Las Vegas strip, generous donations from our wonderful fanbase, Neil Gaiman, Doctor Who, celebrity tarot lounge, Ghostbusters 3, Bill Murray, Zombieland, Dethklok's Mordhaus fountain from Metalocalpyse, the auction of props and costumes from Star Trek: the Experience, Daredevil reboot, Nick Fury, The Kingpin, Alan Moore, Watchmen, Zack Snyder, Sonic the Hedgehog, Gobots, Assassin's Creed, Batman porn from Vivid, an Olivia Munn comic, Swollar, and The Big List is all about upcoming movie sequels!

CouchCast 37 - The Laws of Nerddom

CouchCast 37 brings you the 20 Laws of Nerddom!  We also discuss George Lucas making an animated movie, an animated Joe Dirt, Gatchaman, upper deck lawsuit concerning counterfeit yu-gi-oh cards, the passing of Zelda Rubenstein and J.D. Salinger, Poltergeist, austrek 2, superman returns, superman 4: the quest for peace, Paul's fucked up childhood, He-man and The Masters of the Universe, She-Ra, Macbeth, neon genesis evangelion and of course, Felching.

CouchCast 36 - Ejaculous Maximus

Couchcast 36 welcomes back The Famous Paul from his exile to the ocean!  We discuss a Mortal Kombat movie remake, William Shatner to host RAW, Tony Hawk Ride 2, Baby and Me for Wii, Dungeons and Dragons taken away from prison inmate, Sonic the Hedgehog roller coaster, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Avatar is the #1 movie of all time, AMC's Walking Dead series, i maed a gam3 w1th z0mb1es 1nit!!!1, BBC video games, Cold Space, Lord of Ultima, video game science, gratuitous filth about Hermione Granger and the Juggernaut and more.

CouchCast 35 - Make George Stop

CouchCast 35 is a blathering, spiteful call for attention.  We discuss Avatar porn, stateside Torchwood in development from Fox, Spider-Man trilogy reboot, George Lucas ruining Star Wars again with 3-D, Push TV series, Jurassic Park 4, the end of Marvel's Siege and Marvel Avengers titles, Marvel's Siege #3 Deadpool variant offer, Hawaii Five-O reboot, Hellgate: London, Star Trek tie-in novels, Brian Bendis' Powers TV series, Game of Thrones on HBO, Top US game console titles, and more.

CouchCast 34 - New Year, Same Geeks

CouchCast 34 is a nerd-splosion of new years news!   We talk Frank Henenlotter's Bad Biology, a 5-disc Back to the Future Blu-Ray set with Jaws19 in 3D, the life and times of Lady GaGa in comics, Star Trek wetsuits, Near Death Studios' Meridian 59, Def Leppard cartoon and video game, Avatar and James Cameron, Wallet Pop price comparisons, Dragon Age: Awakening (a Dragon Age: Origins expansion), EA closing multiplayer servers for old sports games, drug dealer busted through World of Warcraft, Deadpool spin-off with Ryan Reynolds, Frogger world record, games to get cheaper, Planet Calypso MMO real estate, guitar hero controllers as domestic violence weapons, our varied interest in games soon to be released, and more!

CouchCast 33 - Big Nerd Theory

Happy New Year from geekland!  For CouchCast33, lets talk about..eh...some best and worst lists for 2009, big bang theory, and a bunch of other stuff that is of interest to geeks like us.  Just go listen to it.

CouchCast 32 - Sir Captain Picard

CouchCast 32?  Already?  Let's talk Dragon Age comics, Zachary Quinto in Star Trek Online, Assassin's Creed II DLC packs, Microsoft's user-health-generated avatars, Good Old Games sale, Magneto origin movie not happening, Dante's Inferno marketing, Lawrence Fishburne in Predators, Dan O'Bannon dead at 63, Red Letter Media's deconstruction of Star Wars Episode 1 the Phantom Menace, Spider-Man 4 halted, Captain EO, commonsense media's list of alternative games for christmas gifts, patrick stewart getting knighted by the queen, and a lot more geek news.

CouchCast 31 - The Wangus Tree

It's almost christmastime here at the the Ugly Couch Show, and CouchCast 31 delivers like a drunken Santa all hopped up on bennies and cough syrup!  We talk about Grant Morrison's biopic, one-more-turn-itis, geeky christmas ornaments, nintendo's next console, playstation network, age of conan and mmo subscriptions, paranormal activity's iphone comic, zombie roadkill on fearnet, paul reubens (pee-wee herman) and the pee-wee's playhouse movie, a sequel to batman: arkham asylum, the marvel universe, frank miller's xerxes, damn nation, sigorney weaver spilling the beans about ghostbusters 3, avatar, twilight moms, and more!

CouchCast 30 - Turkeystar Galactica

Couchcast 30!  Our 30th geek news podcast.  We speak of, Left 4 Dead 2, Deb, a Lego gun, video games exhibition at the Smithsonian, Silent Hill play in Sweden, Stat Trek Online exclusives, New England Imperial Stout Trooper beer, video game ban in Venezuela, John Malkovich as The Vulture in Spider-Man 4, Anne Hathaway as Black Cat in Spider-Man 4, McG and the Terminator franchise, and much more!

CouchCast 29 - Electric Pizza Blueprint

CouchCast 29, now available on iTunes as well as Podbean and of course uglycouchshow.com!  We talk Marvel Universe, The Punisher, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Direct2Drive, Activision, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, the Battleship movie, Amityville Horror, Paranormal Activity, Paranormal Activity 2, Area 51, Stephen King Under the Dome, Nightmare on Elm Street, Freddy Kreuger, Archie's Riverdale Run, and a lot more I totally forgot to write down!

CouchCast 28 - Nuclear Biscuit Cocktail

CouchCast 28!  We discuss The Crow reboot, Splatterhouse shoes, a new Kull the Conqueror movie, Fight Club's blu-ray, Jackass 3D, Chevy Chasein a Superbowl ad, Gentle Giant's new R2D2 statue, the guy who spoke only Klingon to his child, FPS shooters and geneva convention violations, classic Atari gaming on the web, emergency broadcast system alerts on Xbox Live, a zombie MMO, a lawsuit against Blizzard, and a lot more!