SDCC Announces Air Date of 'Doctor Who' Season 9; Releases First Official Trailer

Jenna Coleman, Peter Capaldi and Michelle Gomez
courtesy the Irish Examiner

During the "Doctor Who" panel, in the infamous Hall H of San Diego Comic Con, the official date for the upcoming ninth season was revealed. The new season is set to air on the BBC, Saturday, September 19th.

Peter Capaldi, the Doctor and first time con-goer, was asked by moderator, Chris Hardwick, during the Doctor Who panel if it has been like any other show he's been on before. It's a well documented fact that Peter Capaldi is a long-time Whovian, so his response was quite touching; "It's the only show that's in my bones." He also admitted to getting teary eyed the first time he saw the TARDIS in person when he guest starred alongside David Tennant, in the 2008 episode, "The Fires of Pompeii."

In addition to the release date of the next season, attendees were treated to an exclusive look at the first official season 9 trailer. In it, we see old villains return, new foes arrive and what looks to be a lot of action. Not only are we treated to glimpses of what appear to be Missy and Clara working together, but we're also shown a brief interaction between Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor and Maisie Williams' (Game of Thrones) yet unknown character.

What do you think, Whovians? Are you excited for the new season and do you have any guesses who Maisie Williams will be playing? Let us know your thoughts & theories in the comments!

-Nowal Massari

Ryan Murphy Confirms Title for "American Horror Story" Season 4!

Fan-made image via Iridescent Pictures

Recently, "American Horror Story" writer Douglas Petrie revealed during a Nerdist podcast that the fourth season of the hit show would take place at a carnival. At the time he stated that it didn't have a title, but that the carnival theme was "very roughly the idea" for the new season.

Well, earlier today show-runner Ryan Murphy took to his Twitter account and confirmed the fourth season title as "American Horror Story: Freak Show."

“It’s set in 1950. If you look historically what happened in the year 1950, there’s some more clues in that year. It’s a period piece. We try and do the opposite of what we’ve done before. Jessica Lange has already started practicing her German accent so I’m very excited!,” Murphy previously stated in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

While he and other crew-members had previously denied the fan-made posters for a circus themed fourth season, it appears that they've had this idea in mind for quite some time. The fourth season of "American Horror Story" will be the last for star Jessica Lange, and will debut in October on FX.

UPDATE: After announcing "American Horror Story: Freak Show" would be the official title of the upcoming fourth season, Entertainment Weekly has provided some additional information regarding the cast and plot! EW revealed-

"Set in Jupiter, Florida, in 1950, Freak Show finds Jessica Lange playing a German ex-pat who is managing one of the last freak shows in the U.S. Her group of “unusuals”- Kathy Bates, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett, and Frances Conroy all play performers whom Lange’s character has rescued; Denis O’Hare and Emma Roberts are also in talks to return. Freak Show’s 13 episodes will track this group as they do anything to keep their business around."


-Nowal Massari

Writer for 'American Horror Story' Confirmed its Season Four Theme...Carnival

Thanks to a Nerdist podcast, we now know the setting of the fourth series of "American Horror Story." The reveal came from the show's writer and co-executive producer, Douglas Petrie.  According to the Huffington Post, When first asked about it, he quickly responded, "I can say nothing." Then Moira Kirkland, a writer for "Castle" and "Arrow" also on the podcast, said, "Well I don't know if it's true, but I heard carnival." Petrie responded, "Yes -- that was the, it -- it does not have a title." It's around the 33-minute mark that this is revealed so you can click here and listen for yourself when Ben Blacker asked him about the setting and Petrie replied,"That's the idea, that's very roughly the idea."

So we don't have definitive details but we at least have the setting on which to speculate. FX did not comment, however. We did have the clue from Ryan Murphy that Jessica Lange was practicing her German accent and it would be set in 1950, “It’s set in 1950. If you look historically what happened in the year 1950, there’s some more clues in that year. It’s a period piece. We try and do the opposite of what we’ve done before. Jessica Lange has already started practicing her German accent so I’m very excited!” Hmmmm...thoughts? A Freak Show would certainly fit the theme of the series and there are already posters with fan art depicting this carnival/circus setting. Oh no...clowns!

We'll definitely keep you posted. Petrie mentions that "Nothing is too extreme for 'American Horror Story.'"

-Larissa Mrykalo

Zombie Sexual Harassment At Nerdist

Just when you think you’ve heard it all about zombies….

Over at the Nerdist Channel, their show "Set List - Stand-Up Without A Net" brings comics onstage in front of an audience to perform on the spot -- about any subject shown on a screen, based on audience suggestions. It's sort of like "Whose Line Is It Anyways" for comics. And recently, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, French comedian Marcel Lucont was prompted with "Zombie Sexual Harassment" and he gave us some great advice.For instance, he points out the English language has too much wordplay, which leads to the confusion when you're told to go for the "head" to kill a zombie.

Anyhow, the rest of his set is hilarious. Are we a polar bear or not? How do we find out about the Top Secret Police Force? Check out the video below and form your own opinions, I can’t say too much about it without telling you everything. But check out the video above.

Sounds to me like Zombie Sexual Harassment is a serious issue. Maybe we call Sarah McLachlan and have her record a song for a super sad commercial to rope people into supporting for their cause? Yes ... no?

-Ashley Chasteen

BBC America to Present First Live Pre-Show for 50th Anniversary of 'Doctor Who'

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of "Doctor Who," BBC America and Nerdist Industries will be presenting the first ever live simulcast pre-show from the YouTube Space Los Angeles. Hosted by Veronica Belmont, the live pre-show will air right before the premiere on Saturday, November 23 at 2:30 p.m EST on BBC America and will stream to audiences world wide via their YouTube channel.
The pre-show will have live presentations of fan-created content from across the globe, as well as conversations with special guests, including YouTube star Phil DeFranco.

“'Doctor Who' has an amazing social media following and is enormously popular, with millions of views on YouTube. Partnering with YouTube on an innovative pre-show will enable fans everywhere to join our celebration of this groundbreaking series’ 50th anniversary," said BBC America General Manager, Perry Simon of the project.

Head of YouTube Space LA, Liam Collins also shared his excitement, saying "We’re very excited to work with BBC America and Nerdist on this first ever simulcast from YouTube Space LA and are looking forward to welcoming 'Doctor' Who fans and YouTube talents for a truly innovative pre-show experience connecting communities all across the world."

After "The Day of the Doctor," BBC America's YouTube channel will host a YouTube exclusive post show at 4PM EST. Produced by Nerdist Industries for BBC America, with Seth Laderman and Chris Hardwick serving as Executive Producers, the live pre-show will round off a YouTube week of all things "Doctor Who," which featured content from YouTube channel favorites such as Doctor Puppet, Nerdist, PBSideaChannel, How to Cook That, Rugburn, and Emergency Awesome.

-Nowal Massari

Geek Week begins with looks at 'Thor' and '8-bit Stan Lee'

Geek Week is in full geeky force over at YouTube with the help of Stan Lee's World of Heroes channel and Nerdist adding to the proceedings.

The week began today with three new YouTube series at SLWOH including "8-Bit Stan Cameos," which offers a jokey look at Stan Lee's cameos in gaming; "Marvelous Movie Shawarma," a landing spot for a special take on how yet-to-be-released Marvel Movies including The Avengers 2, X-Men Days of Future Past, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 might end; "Star Wars Speed Dating," which takes viewers to a singles bar in a galaxy far, far away to see how our beloved characters might find love.

Also premiering this week will be exclusive peeks at new movies, such as the official Thor: The Dark World trailer and a fun list of "10 Superheroes You've Heard Of w/ Simon Pegg and Simon Pegg"

Keep an eye on Geek Week, and check out some of what's cool and out there in just the first day of Geek Week.

Geek on, friends.

Karen Gillan becomes zombie companion for 'Nerdist' makeup

Zombie Pond, courtesy BBC America

Last Saturday’s episode of BBC America’s The Nerdist was just plain awesome. Guests included creator of The Walking Dead Robert Kirkman and birthday boy Michael Rooker. They played Walking Dead Mad Libs, discussed the show and comic books, joked around ...it was magical.

Then there were the mock ads starring the beauty who played Doctor’s former companion Amy Pond. Karen Gillan is a stunning woman and even as a zombie, she wants to look her best. She promoted the new cosmetics line "z’Ombeal" which includes face make-up to give you that lovely LIVE look your skin once had, and hair care to give you that shine and keep it from falling out. The ads were hilarious and had her feasting on many of her handlers. You can see her skin care ad here.

It’s nice to know that we gals can still look our best during the zombie apocalypse!

Just because: Ben Folds Five rocks out with 'Fraggle Rock'

It isn't really paranormal, but it is a groovy track from Ben Folds (Five) with a fun vid featuring Folds, Chris Hardwick of Nerdist, Rob Corddry, Anna Kendrick and the Fraggles of Fraggle Rock.

Or maybe it's super paranormal since it involves cryptids who live under ground while subverting a slave race all while they dance, play and fear only the Gorgs. OK, if that helps us rationalize posting this so it fits within the paranormal umbrella, so be it. Either way, it's just fun...

-Aaron Sagers