I started off Friday, the second official day of San Diego Comic-Con, at Amazon Prime Video’s activation for the upcoming The Tick live-action series. As I entered the experience, I was given a chipped wristband that would track my progress. For the first portion of the experience, I entered the Amazon Prime Member Lounge. I was handed a wireless headset and there were couches and water there to sit back, relax and watch the pilot episode of the series. There were also three special stations strewn about the room that you needed to activate with your wristband and then answer some questions. A fourth station required you to take a picture of yourself with some Tick antennae and post it to social media. If you unlocked all 4 stations, when you left the booth, you would receive a prize. The prize they were giving out that morning was a Tick cellphone case—your choice of either iPhone 6 or 7. The case was solid blue with antennae at the top. It looked pretty cool, but unfortunately, there was no iPhone 6 Plus option.
In the next segment of the Tick experience, I weaved through a line as ads for the show were shown on TVs hanging from the ceiling. Midway through there was a quiz to activate with your wristband. Supposedly, your list of prizes at the exit would be based on how well you did with this quiz about the series, however everyone seemed to get the same options. Just before leaving this room, you were presented with a list of prizes—a baseball tee, a regular tee, or a tote bag. Once you selected a prize, there were various ways to customize it. First you were offered a choice of Tick antennae positions/moods, and based on which one you chose, there were two Tick quotes to choose from. After you submitted your selections, you were brought to the final segment of the experience.
We were led into this room that looked like a convenience store where we were briefed on our mission. Criminals were on the loose and it was up to us to help the police catch them. We would be brought into two different rooms and in each room we would have 4 minutes to search for clues. There were 7 pieces of evidence in each room, and we had to find the glowing disc next to each one and press our wristbands to it to activate it. It was a frantic time, with everyone running around trying to get to the same discs.
Afterwards we were led into the final room where we found out our final score. Each person got to take a motion video—you could either choose to do a hero shot of you flying away from an explosion, or one of you being blown away by the force of the explosion. After taking the photo, you enterted your info to have it texted/emailed to you, and then picked up your customized swag and exited the experience.
Next I headed out to use some of my Ecoin balance from the bank account I had set up the previous day. First I used 5 Ecoins to purchase a Red Wheelbarrow BBQ t-shirt, and then I headed over to the Red Wheelbarrow BBQ restaurant to use the Ecoin offer for free BBQ—a pulled pork slider, chips and a chocolate shake. The food was really good!
Then I headed to the Hilton Bayfront for a couple press rooms.
First up was Psych. As we talked to the cast, I was instantly reminded of why I loved this show so much. We got to speak with executive producers Chris Henze & Kelly Kulchak and stars James Roday (“Shawn”), Dulé Hill (“Gus”), Maggie Lawson (“Juliet”), Kirsten Nelson (“Chief Vick”). Unfortunately star Corbin Bernsen (“Henry”) and series creator Steve Franks never got around to our table. And Timothy Omundson’s (“Lassiter”) presence was certainly missed—we wish him a speedy recovery.
They were very secretive on the details of the upcoming Christmas movie—especially regarding the state of Shawn and Juliet’s relationship—but everyone was very willing to talk about how they want this to just be the first of many movies to come. After all, they got eight seasons, so why not eight movies as well?! Check out my videos from these roundtable sessions.
Next I headed next door for the iZombie press room. The participants were running a bit late, but once they arrived, the folks running the room did a great job ensuring that we got to speak with everyone who came to the room—executive producer Diane Ruggiero-Wright, and stars Rose McIver (“Liv”), Malcolm Goodwin (“Clive”), Rahul Kohli (“Ravi”), Robert Buckley (“Major”), David Anders (“Blaine”) and Aly Michalka (“Peyton”). Check out my videos from these roundtable sessions.
Afterwards, I packed up my stuff and headed for the Marriott for the Syfy Live taping. After waiting in the initial line behind the hotel, I was led into a holding room where we were given bottles of water and Syfy-branded fans to help us cool off. Once it got closer to the show time, we were led up to the roof where we were handed gourmet popsicles, more bottled water and offered a spritz of suntan lotion. Then we made our way towards the stage. The stage manager gave us a rundown of how things were going to work, and showed us the cold open for the show so that we could practice our clapping and laughing. A comedian came out to warm up the crowd even more, mainly talking to the folks who had arrived in costumes. He tried and failed to set two people up on a date. As he was throwing some swag into the audience, it was time for the show.
They rolled the cold open again, and Zachary Levi took the stage and introduced the first guests—Andre Meadows, Aly Michalka & Ricky Whittle.
Each time there was a commercial break, makeup people would run out and touch up the guests, or stagehands would quickly swap out the furniture.
The second set of guests were Stephen Amell and Emily Bett Rickards from Arrow. They were running out to the audience to shake hands, etc during the breaks.
During the Q&A with fans, one of those fans with a question was surprise guest Katie Cassidy, who then joined them on stage for a minute.
The final guest was Karen Gillan, who got a bit giddy with power as she realized she just had to talk about the energy of the audience and everyone would cheer.
After the show was wrapped, we had to stick around as they filmed a few promos for the episode while—we cheered in the background as Zach talked about what was going to be on “tonight’s show”. As we walked out we were handed a giant Syfy swag bag containing a fanny pack, baseball cap and pins.
After this I decided to check out what was going on in the parking area of Petco Park. During my mad dash to get to the Syfy Live event, some guys dressed like Mr. Friendly’s Ice Cream men had handed me a ticket for a free ice cream and I was curious to see if it was still open. By the time I got there, the ice cream was closed for the day, but they were still creating custom t-shirts for the upcoming DirecTV series Mr. Mercedes, so I got in line for that. I also did a photo opportunity and got in line for a prize vending machine where you could win a pin, a stress ball or a fidget spinner. Unfortunately the machine was timed to shut off at 9p and there was no way I was going to get my turn beforehand. However, the young woman who was running it saw I was press and gave me one of the cool light up fidget spinners anyway.
While I was there I also visited the Lich King’s Ice Cream Citadel to get a quick free sample of ice cream. This was setup by Blizzard Entertainment to promote their upcoming Knights of the Frozen Throne expansion for the digital strategy card game Hearthstone.
On my way back to the hotel, I decided to activate another one of my 5 Ecoin offers to get a free gourmet cupcake (it was quite a healthy dinner!). I got a cookies and cream cupcake to take back to the hotel with me—t was delicious, and had a surprise Oreo at the bottom.
(Check out all of our SDCC 2017 Daily Recaps: Preview Night | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4)
