WonderCon 2009, Day 3: The Press Room
Before I attempt to recount this crazy day, I must mention that Felicia Day commented on my photo of us!!! *dies* I checked some other WonderCon photos she was tagged in, and she didn't comment on theirs. I AM SPECIAL SOMEHOW.
I hit the floor as soon as it opened so I could get David Mack to sign the two Alias trades I bought yesterday. He did so happily (I seriously cannot believe how nice he is). I also told him about introducing missquita to his work; she didn't know where to start with comics since there were so many different artists, and I showed her an issue of Kabuki, and she loved it, declaring that she had a new favorite comic book artist. David thanked me for introducing him to her, and then he gave me issue #7 of Kabuki: The Alchemy and signed it to me (which was a first, all the other stuff I had signed by him was just a signature).
Then I swung by Gigi Edgley's table to show off the Threadless shirt I was wearing today ("I listen to bands that don't even exist yet"). I asked if she'd seen any other Threadless shirts yesterday; she said she probably did but didn't know. I told her that the "In a Comic" shirt she loved was indeed sold out, but she could go to the site and sign up to be e-mailed when it was back in stock.
She asked me whether I had a good day yesterday, which was sweet. I said I did and asked the same of her. She said her day was busy, but good. I told her to have a good day today and left.
But before we leave the floor, I must mention that I did run into Daredevil and Black Cat Spider-Woman!
After I took this picture, they did an interview.
I found Room 300, guarded by a pretty young woman whose badge had a familiar name: the WB publicist I had been in contact with! I'm always surprised when non-actors in the industry are young and pretty; I expect them to be older. Maybe because I think their jobs are so cool and if they're my age or younger I wonder what I've done wrong with my life.
I introduced myself and confirmed that she did indeed love raelee. We chatted about robosexuality and how crazy it was when we realized that the show was going there. Um, it should be obvious we were talking about SCC here; she was the publicist for SCC but was managing both panels today.
We bloggers and journalists hung around the room, waiting for the talent to arrive. Charlie Jane Anders from io9.com introduced herself to me and, seeing my badge, said that she loved RTVW Online! Aw, that's so cool! I said that I read io9 a lot, as Whedonesque was always linking to them.
And then, while Charlie was away for a second, the talent arrived! They all walked past us into the room, Adam Baldwin bringing up the rear and inducing a cheer. Soon after, we were let into the room ourselves. There were several round tables set up; we were told to sit at a table. I picked the one Zachary Levi was sitting at.
"Guess what?" I said to Zachary Levi, star of Chuck. " I ate at Vivian's on your recommendation."
"No way," he said, "do you live there?" I think he said "there" and not "in L.A.," although I assume he wasn't asking whether I lived in Vivian's. I explained that I was just visiting, and spadada had met him at a photoshoot. I don't think he remembered specifically, but nonetheless, he was, as I had hoped, very pleased that I had gone. "It's good, right?" It was! I told him I had a chicken salad melt.
"What kind of cheese?"
"Cheddar!" I replied. "Not American. We had a whole discussion about that."
"American's not really a cheese," he scoffed. A bit later, he added that, wait, the chicken melt was what he always got!
It was around that time that I remembered to pull out my brand-new voice recorder and turn it on (as other people were doing), so I could just transcribe the next forty minutes verbatim!! But I am not going to do that because oh my God my poor fingers. Zach had a good time with all the recorders on the table, shuffling them all around and joking, "Who's in, who's in?" Zach and Josh Gomez were on one side, and Chris Fedak was on the other side, so when Chris started talking, one of the guys moved his recorder a little closer, and someone else followed suit, and then Zach just pushed them all that way ("And he's all in"). And then when he spoke, he pulled them all toward him; one had a little strap, so he liked that one since he could just grab it. It was really amusing. And the entire interview came to a hilarious standstill when someone showed up with a giant tape recorder. We all just gazed in wonder and made comments about how old-school it was. "WHOA!" exclaimed Zach. "That's fantastic." Josh joked that someone would next bring out the phonograph.
But let's show off the talent!
Chris, being a writer, was a little less accustomed to having his picture taken, he thought he always had to look at a camera if it was pointed at him. So, luckily, I got a good shot of him!
The first question, naturally, was about the "State of the Chuck Union," as the guy called it-a phrase Zach loved, as it made him feel like Obama ("We can!" he said, fucking up the catchphrase, which made him "Nobama"). Both Zach and Chris feel very good about a third season since the studio and network have been very supportive of the show.
The age-old question-"How geeky are you guys?"-came up, and Zach answered by declaring that they'd spent the flight up here discussing Xbox games and the two they (I think he meant he and Josh [Gomez]) were playing, Killzone 2 and Halo Wars. And how when Adam Baldwin had asked him what a good first-person shooter was, he had gotten all serious and intellectual about it. The girl who asked the question asked him whether he preferred Call of Duty 4 or Call of Duty: World at War, and Zach answered COD4, without question, which is the right answer. And then he went on a very serious tangent about Infinity Ward vs. Treyarch (for those not in the know, which is most of you, the Call of Duty series alternates developers, and the even-numbered games made by Infinity Ward are widely held to be superior). I really wanted to geek out with him about video games, but I didn't want to derail the table any more than Zach was already doing all on his own.
Continuing on the geek front, someone asked about the Y: The Last Man poster on Chuck's wall (which I don't think I've noticed wtf). Zach said that someone had actually handed him the first trade because she thought that he would be perfect to play Yorick in a movie-AND HOLY CRAP I NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT BUT WHAT THE FUCKING HELL HE IS YORICK YOU GUYS GO AWAY SHIA LABEOUF SOMEONE MAKE THIS HAPPEN INSTEAD-and he read it all in one night and then borrowed the rest of the series from a friend and loved it...and then walked onto the set to shoot the second season and saw the poster. It was kismet! Chris revealed that they'd actually tried to get the poster for the first season but couldn't get the rights. lenadances did ask about the geekiness, and while I did not ask her question directly, the general impression I got was that everyone on the writing staff was a huge geek-and filled with nostalgia for the eighties-but Chris and Josh were definitely the King Geeks.
It was kind of weird at the table. Before it all started, as you saw, I had no problem talking to Zachary Levi about what I had for lunch this one time, just like everything was normal. But once everyone else was at the table and we were Asking Questions, I felt less comfortable speaking up. I better only say something if it's important! I'd better not waste everyone's time! I'd better not look like a fool in front of all these tape recorders! I was very intimidated. Other people who had probably been to these things many more times than I had were quick to ask a question as soon as they sensed an opportunity; by the time I realized there was a silence, it was too late. I would start to say something and then someone else would be louder and more assertive. A few people at the table did the majority of the talking. I didn't get to say a single thing, really, during our time with Zach and Josh and Chris. They themselves were not intimidating, though; you could shoot the shit with them for hours if it was just you guys. Zach and Josh were clearly just as good friends as their characters are, which was not surprising. But now I want to be their friend!
Charlie asked whether we'd see more of the sci-fi trappings of the show, and I'll just link to her post (short answer: Yes, woo!).
Since Zach said Chris's general idea for the show was a "quarterlife crisis with espionage," someone had them expound more upon the quarterlife crisis aspect of the show. Zach and Josh, having recently gone through said crisis, talked for a couple minutes about the ways that experience is a part of the show. I hadn't really thought about it, but it does sort of speak to that issue, what with Chuck in a dead-end job and wanting to do more with his life. And as he goes on all these crazy spy missions, he learns more about himself and who he is and gets more comfortable with that. Which is what happens when you're...me. I go on fewer spy missions, however.
Chris talked about the making of the 3-D episode; apparently, they were the only show dumb enough to actually accept the offer to do an episode in 3-D. They considered doing just a section of the show in 3-D but decided that was too easy and went all out. They wrote the episode specifically to take advantage of the 3-D however they could (beyond the simple "throwing knives at the screen" gag). He said it was cool to be a genre show because you could do all these "special" episodes; he referenced Buffy and "Hush" and OMWF as examples. Future episodes of Chuck will include Chuck Live!, Chuck Underwater!, Chuck the Musical!, Chuck on Ice!, and Chuck Unplugged! (Spoiler warning: No they won't.)
They also geeked out about their favorite geeky guest stars, but I don't want to spoil anything! Chris was very excited about the table read for the finale, though, which was like geek heaven for him. Zack thought Stewie Griffin should guest star on the show (cue the Stewie impressions), and Josh wanted Vince Vaughn to work at the Buy More.
All in all, we spent about twenty minutes with the guys, and then it was time to switch the tables. We were to stay where we were, and the "talent" moved. But before that happened:
"Zach, I've been asked to take a picture of you making your 'I'm flashing' face."
"I'd have to be constipated in order to do that," he said. Laughter.
"That's exactly what I'm going for," I said. And so, ladies and gentlemen, I present:
HE'S SO DREAMY.
Zach said it was nice meeting everyone and told us to have a nice day, and then he moved to the other table. We shifted around a bit and then welcomed Adam Baldwin, Yvonne Strahovski, and Josh Schwartz to our table.
First off was the same "State of the Chuck Union" question, and, again, the feeling was pretty good. Josh said that this season of Chuck was the season of television he's most proud of in terms of execution and performance, so suck it, The O.C. and Gossip Girl. When asked to talk about where it was going, Adam and Yvonne were a little hesitant and asked Josh if they were allowed to say. We did get a small spoiler that I will not reveal! Unless you ask nicely. Josh did tell us that the finale was a "game-changer" and would reframe the show for season three. Also, I should note that Sarah Yvonne was of course speaking in her natural accent. It was very strange!
Someone asked Adam and Sarah Yvonne what they'd like for their characters in their future. Yvonne said she'd like to not work at a yogurt store anymore.
"But the outfit's better, right?" I said. I did not say that she looked way hotter in said outfit.
"I like the outfit better," she said. "But maybe the outfit will change again, next season." Adam suggested the bad economy would force the yogurt store out of business, and it would be replaced. "Why can't I do something classy like be a travel agent? Wear a nice suit or whatever."
"I don't think that's what America wants to see," joked Josh.
Charlie asked Josh what he thought about being up against The Big Bang Theory since it targeted a similar audience. Josh lamented their competition, but he thought that Chuck appealed to a lot of different audiences. It had elements of comedy, and it was sort of a procedural, and "if you like The Bachelor, Chuck...is a bachelor."
The end of the joke ("And will he choose Sarah?") was drowned out by our laughter. Zach, at the other table, fake-laughed really loud to show that they were ALSO having a good time. And then a minute later, for presumably unrelated reasons, there was a ton of laughter from the other side of the room where the SCC folk were, as if even they were trying to outdo us.
Adam and Yvonne talked about some of their other projects. Yvonne has a horror movie coming up, and Adam has a couple indie films out that he did during the strike.
Someone asked about stunts. Adam does about half of his own stunts, but, awesomely, Yvonne does pretty much all of her own stunts. She had stage combat training in theatre school and took some martial arts training when she started the show. Yvonne was also asked an interesting question about her accent and whether she uses it during the audition process. She had heard that some people spoke only in American accents, even when not reading, but she kept hers. We love Aussies, right?
AND THEN I FINALLY GOT TO ASK A FUCKING QUESTION.
I asked Josh Schwartz, creator of TV's Chuck, whether it was a conscious decision to have such an ethnically diverse cast at the Buy More or whether he just liked the actors. The Buy More is very colorful, I noted.
He said it was a combination of both, that he definitely wanted an accurate representation of the employees in those stores, but he also found some funny actors like Vik Sahay.
AND A FOLLOW-UP, IF I MAY.
I asked if he could talk about making him a HinJew. I mentioned that in The Guild, which he had not seen-damn, I should have totally recommended it to Zach; he would love it-the Indian character is also a HinJew. And it turns out that in the first pilot Josh ever wrote, he had a HinJew character named Kumar Zimmerman (played by Kal Penn!), so they were a recurring motif in his work. But mostly, he just wanted Lester to gamble on dreidels.
The geekiness question came up, and Yvonne said she was "clearly" not the geeky one (Josh: "What does that mean, 'clearly'?"). Adam's daughter was at the other table, and I recognized her as a girl who had said hi to me before we entered the press room. Adam asked her to tell us how geeky he was. She said he was ten times geekier than we thought he was. Adam asked her to tell us what he does that's really terrible. The answer? Dance. Hee.
I got the impression Yvonne wasn't as comfortable being there as, say, Zach. She was much quieter and less jokey than Adam, which was surprising because she seemed more outgoing and funny on the gag reel and other special features on the DVDs.
We'd gotten about twenty minutes with them as well when time was called. Someone slid a photo across the table and asked if Adam would sign it. "That'll be twenty dollars," he joked. Which, see! This is why I think paying for autographs is dumb. He would totally do it for free! And yet, I was still sort of scared to ask. He pointed at me yesterday! Maybe he thought I was Alliance scum.
In another conversation, I heard him say he did not like high school. "Yeah," I said, "you don't want to go to your reunion." It turned out that Liz Kretchmer was a legit person! She was someone he barely knew, though, one of the popular people.
I grabbed my Chuck DVDs and asked Zach if he would sign them. He would! He signed them to me and everything. Yvonne was posing for pictures (I don't remember anyone else being asked to pose for pictures), and afterward, I asked if she would also sign my DVDs. And she did!
During the second round of interviews, sainfoin_fields finally found her way into the room! Charlie had introduced herself to her, which was sweet.
The Chuck people disappeared into the other room for videos and such, and the SCC folk came to our room! Shirley Manson sat at our table, and Josh Friedman and Summer Glau took the other. Tris waaaaaaanted to be with Summer, but I told her that we'd switch.
Shirley talked about what it was like playing a Terminator and how her first acting job was going. It was hard, but she had learned so much from when she started. She doesn't like horror, but she's always loved sci-fi. This is going to be really disjointed since it was just her and the questions were sort of all over the place. But it was actually very interesting, and she was very at ease and gave good answers; she's no stranger to being interviewed, after all. She got some questions she obviously didn't want or care to answer and deflected them nicely.
Garbage did not write "The World Is Not Enough"; they just performed it. But Shirley's still happy to be part of the Bond franchise; just the day before she was flipping through channels on "telly" and caught the movie and was all, "Wow, that's me singing!"
Shirley told the story of how she got the job, which she has told and will tell many times. She and Josh are friends, and one day he said that she'd make a great Terminator, would she do it? And she said yes, thinking he was joking. But he was not! The end. It's not a very complex story.
Shirley thinks that Weaver is not evil, just a robot doing her robot thing (which is KILL ALL HUMANS, right?). She finds inspiration for the character in Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, who actually inspired her throughout her life, even as a lead singer (I later asked her whether any Garbage songs were secretly about Sarah Connor, and she said, "No, absolutely not," which was disappointing). But the two people that really inform her performance are MARGARET THATCHER and Glenn Close in Damages.
She doesn't get to do a lot of action, per se, since she's liquid, but she mentioned that handling guns was new and interesting because there's not much of a gun culture in Scotland. She felt like a professional actor and everything!
Tris asked about Weaver's relationship with Savannah. Shirley loved the addition of that character and the opportunity to play a mother who was so emotionally disconnected from her daughter. She also described Weaver as "gormless." Shirley praised the girl who plays the daughter, saying that sometimes what makes it onscreen isn't even the best take she gave.
Shirley, like all of us, totally loved her killing spree.
Two of us started asking a question at the same time, but I was asking a pretty dumb question, so I deferred to the guy behind me, who had not asked a question, but then he deferred to me since I had gotten more of my question out. Shirley, however, thought that he was first, actually, so we ought to keep our manners. His question was more interesting than mine, although the answer was not very informative (he asked about a potential robot caste system, and Shirley didn't think there was one).
Tris asked if Josh gave Shirley any motivational cues. Well, he told her nothing when she shot the premiere! He told her she was on his own, so she had to make it up. She wanted to go back and do the first five episodes over again know what she knew now. Her answer totally makes sense, though; she improves a lot during the season, and it's probably tied to the fact that she didn't really know anything about her character at first, so it was hard to, well, act. As she learned more, she got better, and now, I think she really owns the character to the point where I can't see anyone else in the role.
Our twenty minutes were up! We thanked her as she got up to go to the other table. I saw one of the other bloggers go up to her and tell her how much Garbage meant to her, and Shirley seemed really touched by what she said, though I couldn't hear it all. One of the more aggressive bloggers came up to me during the transition and told me that the question I'd asked the Chuck creator was "genius." Which...okay? Thanks? I totally forgot to ask him about hiding plot points in throwaway jokes, dammit.
Now, we got Josh and Summer!
I introduced myself to Josh, and he recognized my name! "Hey, how are you?" he said. He's a pretty friendly guy.
The first question was, of course, the State of the Union. And Josh had no idea! He hoped for a third season, but the ratings were not awesome. They were not crazy low either, however; the ratings drop after the move to Fridays was typical. It was a tough night. Plus, they did very well with men but not with women, which boggled him since he thought the show was very female-friendly in the themes it covered. They didn't have a lot of romance on the show, and although he didn't want to be so shallow as to think that was a big deal, the female writers on the show said that could be one reason women weren't tuning in.
But that gave me an opening to ask my question! See, I was getting better at this shit; I just had to go for it, dammit. I asked him about all the interesting one-shot female characters on the show; I found them so much more memorable and intriguing than those on other shows. How and why was he doing it better than other shows? He thanked me for saying so, but he didn't know that he was, since all he heard from fans was "Why are we spending so much time on all these peripheral characters? Where's Summer?" But then he went on to awesomely explain that those characters were supposed to represent different facets of Sarah or paths she could have gone WHICH IS TOTALLY WHAT I THOUGHT AND WAS GOING TO ADD ONTO MY QUESTION BUT I DID NOT AND HE VALIDATED MY OPINION ANYWAY AW YEAH.
Summer talked about...wait, I said Summer, didn't I? Oh, fine, HERE YOU GO.
Summer talked about her performance this season and how she loved the addition of Riley because she got to play the jealousy Cameron would feel when someone tried to take John's attention away from her. She's proud to be part of the show because it has such strong women characters.
(Summer was very quiet, and Josh moved the recorders closer when she began to speak. Heh.)
She talked a bit about her upcoming appearance on The Big Bang Theory, in which she plays herself. She said the actors are all extremely talented, and she didn't realize how talented they were until she went there.
Summer was scared about doing "Samson and Delilah," but she loved the script, and it's her favorite episode in the series.
When Josh wrote the season finale, he went back and looked at "Samson and Delilah" to see what promises he made in that episode to make sure that everything set up in that episode pays off in the finale. He didn't do anything differently in the finale than he would have done had he been more or less confident about getting a third season.
According to Josh, "I love you and you love me" is the secret to the entire season. DUN DUN DUN. (Score one for the robosexuals?)
I got to ask another question! I had it written down so I wouldn't fuck it up. I said that SCC was like no other show on television. It had a very different tone, and it was more thoughtful than your typical sci-fi action show. And they really hate exposition. The show trusts the audience to put things together, much like The Wire does. So I wanted to know what his storytelling influences were and why he chose to tell Sarah's story that way.
Before I'd even finished my question, Josh answered, "The Wire." It was probably one of my favorite shows. Summer had not seen The Wire, and she was going to Netflix it. I said it was amazing. Josh gushed about the show as well-as pretty much anyone who has seen the show does, of course-and called it the best television show in the last ten years.
"Without robots," someone added.
Josh loved shows and sci-fi that were immersive (like a Vernor Vinge novel (miniglik!!!)), and he compared SCC to The Wire (without wanting to compare it to The Wire because it was so much better). He did not like exposition, and it was the biggest source of conflict with the network. Lack of exposition unnerved them. But he was determined to write the show his own way. He contrasted the show with Lost, which he also loved. Lost could get away with lots of exposition and make its very complex plot easy to understand, largely because Sawyer goes around taking his shirt off and yelling exposition.
Summer loves sci-fi and sees no reason to stop doing it. Her mother read her a lot of sci-fi when she was a little girl.
Summer was not really happy with the promotional photo they used (you know the one), but she's grown to appreciate it as a symbol of her great experience on the show. Or something.
I think our twenty minutes were up and we just kept talking for a few minutes more. But then it was over.
I skipped over to Shirley behind me while Tris went and talked to Josh about Snakes on a Plane. I introduced myself to Shirley, who was supposed to know me and think I was cool, according to my friend on the show who told her about me last week, but it was not coming to her. I was the Veronica Mars superfan who really supported the show? No? Maybe? I think it vaguely came back to her.
So then I got to tell Shirley Manson that I loved Garbage and that Garbage was the first CD I ever bought. And, just as with the girl before, she seemed really touched and appreciative. I asked her if she would sign my liner notes, and she did! I said I regretted never seeing them live. I remembered when they toured with the Distillers, but I didn't make it to the show. She said that was a great show.
Then I went over and met Josh! He asked how I was doing, and I said I was nervous. He said I did well. I was shaking a bit; I said it was a little cold. "That's the adrenaline," he said. I couldn't keep my goddamn camera steady because I was shaking; that's why some of those pictures are blurry.
Shirley came by, and Tris took some pictures of us.
I'd like to note that NO ONE COMMENTED ON MY SHIRT. Wah.
I got Summer to sign my SCC DVDs. I asked her about her Batgirl shirt; sadly, she didn't actually read the comics, but she liked the shirt. And that was how I met Summer Glau? I am sure you were expecting more excitement there.
The talent had to leave, and then it was over! So little time! I didn't even tell anyone how awesome they were! What a wasted opportunity!
We were late for the Chuck panel, oh noes! They were showing a spoilery clip reel, so I didn't mind. We found some seats close to the front on the right, and I had Tris save my seat while I rushed back to the floor to see if I could meet Blair Butler from X-Play and Attack of the Show. But there was a line. Not a Felicia Day-size line, but a line nonetheless, and I thought she was great and all, but I wasn't going to wait in line for her. I did see her, though.
On my way back to the panel, I ran into some interesting ladies.
The panelists were out. Yeah, those guys I'd just been talking to? They were on the stage now. I didn't bother taking pictures because, uh, I'd just been inches from them. It was interesting to be at the panel right afterwards because, obviously, they got asked some of the same questions we'd just asked them and they gave very similar answers. It made me think of all the other panels I'd been to and what may have happened right before them.
Let's see, highlights from the panel. Zach demonstrated some move he'd made up for Chuck called The Morgan, where he covered his crotch with one hand and his mouth with the other and kicked one leg back in a protective gesture.
There was a lot of joking around. Adam-who had gotten the most raucous applause at his entrance-made some comments about Josh Gomez "handling his gun." When one audience member asked the cast what other character on the show they'd want to be, Josh answered that he would be Sarah Lancaster and just look at himself in the mirror all day. Yvonne started to answer, and Josh said that he'd stolen hers, hadn't he. But she went with Lester because he's funny. Adam said he would definitely be Captain Awesome. So he could make out with Sarah Lancaster. Zach, I think, pointed out that Sarah Lancaster was being played by Josh Gomez, and Adam changed his answer to Chuck, I think. And Zach said that he would be Casey.
One woman was from Colombia, and she spoke in Spanish for a translator. She loved the show so much that she had her husband translate the show for her as it aired. "Muchas gracias," said Zach. She wanted to know if they were going to bring the show to Colombia, which confused me because she was obviously watching it, but maybe she meant the show, not the show. Anyway, Zach said he thought that they were airing in Latin America, but if he had anything to do with it, he'd make sure it came to Colombia. The woman said that if the show set an episode in Colombia, they would be welcomed by many fans. "Mucho gusto," said Zach.
Zachary Levi loves being slapped by Yvonne Strahovski. Pass it on.
Zach acknowledged that he was very lucky to be able to make out with Yvonne and the many other women he's gotten to kiss on the show. Someone asked how they dealt with reining it in since there were so many almost kisses. Zach said that one time he did have a Philly cheesesteak before a scene; Yvonne remembered that one.
Josh Schwartz polled the audience on who wanted to see Bryce come back. I cheered. Along with five other people. Who didn't want to see Bryce come back? WOOOOOOOO!!!!111 I was really confused because Bryce is a cool character and I like the actor from Traveler. But then I remembered that Bryce gets in the way of Chuck/Sarah, so the crazy 'shippers do not like him, apparently. Zach was all, "Well, thank you for being so concerned about our relationship!" He wanted to see him come back, though.
Adam talked about his time on Full Metal Jacket and what a great guy Stanley Kubrick was.
Yvonne was asked what she liked best about playing Sarah besides getting to kick ass. She said that she loved being able to play so many different parts of Sarah.
Someone asked what the most embarrassing moment was, and they had a hard time trying to think of one until Adam said to Zach, "When you kissed me." Heh.
When the panel was over, Zach came up to the edge of the stage and signed stuff. Aw, how nice! Really, I want to be his friend. Someone make that happen. We had the same lunch at Vivian's; doesn't that mean ANYTHING?
We moved up a row or two for the SCC panel. They started off with a clip reel that was awesome. You'll get spoilers from me, but all my sources have said that this last run of episodes through the finale kick a lot of ass and are among the best episodes in the series, and they were not just blowing smoke. Starting this Friday, shit gets real, you guys.
You know, I can barely remember a damn thing from this panel. Maybe a lot of what was covered was already said in the press room. And most of the audience questions were dumb? One guy asked Shirley why she chose not to use her accent when she sang; he didn't know she had an accent until he saw her on the show. "Have you ever heard an alternative rock song sung in a Scottish accent?" she asked. "It would be ridiculous."
One person asked about the whole "Summer!" thing used on the Firefly set after a flubbed line. Summer told the story (which I'm sure all Firefly fans already know), but what I did not know was that it apparently even carried over to the Buffy and Angel sets. Ha.
Josh claimed that by the finale, "Everybody has a scene with everybody."
Some idiot asked Josh if they could expect anyone to yell at a light guy. And that was supposed to be the last question. Josh asked for another last question. "Make it better than that one!" I forget what it was, but I'm sure it was better.
Sorry I don't remember anything! Tris took notes, and her blog post will be much better than this write-up.
We scored front-row seats after the panel cleared the hell out post-SCC. Not many people excited for Harper's Island, it seemed. Tris went to get lunch while I watched the pilot episode. It was pretty good but a little confusing given that it's supposed to introduce 25 characters, all suspects in a grand 13-episode murder mystery where one or more of them get killed off each week. There were several familiar actors in the pilot. Christopher Gorham! Katie Cassidy! Harry Hamlin! Jim Beaver! And one very pretty girl I did not know but would watch the show for if I were so inclined.
And said girl was on the panel! Elaine Cassidy, presumably no relation.
She has an Irish accent! Which makes her even cuter!
I don't think any of you care about Harper's Island except for maybe harper47 on principle, but I'll gladly answer questions about the show if you're interested. Here, have some pretty people.
It's a murder mystery event! Fun times, right?
Whedonopolis was hosting a singalong. While it could never measure up to this one, they had some pretty neat props, including a very well made parking ticket with hilarious violations. And vampire teeth and finger puppets. rowanceleste found me somehow and, luckily, we had an extra seat in the front row.
They put the episode up on the big screen. At the last second, I realized I should make use of my new toy and record the singalong! So then you can hear what it's like at one of these things.
WonderCon 2009 OMWF Singalong
You can, uh, hear me pretty well. Sometimes I am awful; please ignore those parts and focus on the parts where I don't suck. You can also hear Tris a bit. The mp3 is only the songs, so it's about 35 minutes long (but the file is not that big). Some songs had more audience participation than others.
It was really fun to sing along, of course. "Walk Through the Fire" is really emotional! It's hard to sing that without feeling it. And "Something to Sing About" made me tear up. I think it's my favorite song in the episode. It's the one I relate to the most.
By the way, James Marsters is kind of popular. I don't know whether you were aware.
When the credits rolled (they brought the lights up before the "Grr! Aargh!" What the hell!), WonderCon was officially over! Man, it had been a time. Very different from last year, but still fun and exhausting.
Afterward, the three of us went for dessert and looked at weird books. On the BART ride home, I once again read Kabuki and was inspired to write. I don't think these posts count.
I hit the floor as soon as it opened so I could get David Mack to sign the two Alias trades I bought yesterday. He did so happily (I seriously cannot believe how nice he is). I also told him about introducing missquita to his work; she didn't know where to start with comics since there were so many different artists, and I showed her an issue of Kabuki, and she loved it, declaring that she had a new favorite comic book artist. David thanked me for introducing him to her, and then he gave me issue #7 of Kabuki: The Alchemy and signed it to me (which was a first, all the other stuff I had signed by him was just a signature).
Then I swung by Gigi Edgley's table to show off the Threadless shirt I was wearing today ("I listen to bands that don't even exist yet"). I asked if she'd seen any other Threadless shirts yesterday; she said she probably did but didn't know. I told her that the "In a Comic" shirt she loved was indeed sold out, but she could go to the site and sign up to be e-mailed when it was back in stock.
She asked me whether I had a good day yesterday, which was sweet. I said I did and asked the same of her. She said her day was busy, but good. I told her to have a good day today and left.
But before we leave the floor, I must mention that I did run into Daredevil and Black Cat Spider-Woman!
After I took this picture, they did an interview.
I found Room 300, guarded by a pretty young woman whose badge had a familiar name: the WB publicist I had been in contact with! I'm always surprised when non-actors in the industry are young and pretty; I expect them to be older. Maybe because I think their jobs are so cool and if they're my age or younger I wonder what I've done wrong with my life.
I introduced myself and confirmed that she did indeed love raelee. We chatted about robosexuality and how crazy it was when we realized that the show was going there. Um, it should be obvious we were talking about SCC here; she was the publicist for SCC but was managing both panels today.
We bloggers and journalists hung around the room, waiting for the talent to arrive. Charlie Jane Anders from io9.com introduced herself to me and, seeing my badge, said that she loved RTVW Online! Aw, that's so cool! I said that I read io9 a lot, as Whedonesque was always linking to them.
And then, while Charlie was away for a second, the talent arrived! They all walked past us into the room, Adam Baldwin bringing up the rear and inducing a cheer. Soon after, we were let into the room ourselves. There were several round tables set up; we were told to sit at a table. I picked the one Zachary Levi was sitting at.
"Guess what?" I said to Zachary Levi, star of Chuck. " I ate at Vivian's on your recommendation."
"No way," he said, "do you live there?" I think he said "there" and not "in L.A.," although I assume he wasn't asking whether I lived in Vivian's. I explained that I was just visiting, and spadada had met him at a photoshoot. I don't think he remembered specifically, but nonetheless, he was, as I had hoped, very pleased that I had gone. "It's good, right?" It was! I told him I had a chicken salad melt.
"What kind of cheese?"
"Cheddar!" I replied. "Not American. We had a whole discussion about that."
"American's not really a cheese," he scoffed. A bit later, he added that, wait, the chicken melt was what he always got!
It was around that time that I remembered to pull out my brand-new voice recorder and turn it on (as other people were doing), so I could just transcribe the next forty minutes verbatim!! But I am not going to do that because oh my God my poor fingers. Zach had a good time with all the recorders on the table, shuffling them all around and joking, "Who's in, who's in?" Zach and Josh Gomez were on one side, and Chris Fedak was on the other side, so when Chris started talking, one of the guys moved his recorder a little closer, and someone else followed suit, and then Zach just pushed them all that way ("And he's all in"). And then when he spoke, he pulled them all toward him; one had a little strap, so he liked that one since he could just grab it. It was really amusing. And the entire interview came to a hilarious standstill when someone showed up with a giant tape recorder. We all just gazed in wonder and made comments about how old-school it was. "WHOA!" exclaimed Zach. "That's fantastic." Josh joked that someone would next bring out the phonograph.
But let's show off the talent!
Chris, being a writer, was a little less accustomed to having his picture taken, he thought he always had to look at a camera if it was pointed at him. So, luckily, I got a good shot of him!
The first question, naturally, was about the "State of the Chuck Union," as the guy called it-a phrase Zach loved, as it made him feel like Obama ("We can!" he said, fucking up the catchphrase, which made him "Nobama"). Both Zach and Chris feel very good about a third season since the studio and network have been very supportive of the show.
The age-old question-"How geeky are you guys?"-came up, and Zach answered by declaring that they'd spent the flight up here discussing Xbox games and the two they (I think he meant he and Josh [Gomez]) were playing, Killzone 2 and Halo Wars. And how when Adam Baldwin had asked him what a good first-person shooter was, he had gotten all serious and intellectual about it. The girl who asked the question asked him whether he preferred Call of Duty 4 or Call of Duty: World at War, and Zach answered COD4, without question, which is the right answer. And then he went on a very serious tangent about Infinity Ward vs. Treyarch (for those not in the know, which is most of you, the Call of Duty series alternates developers, and the even-numbered games made by Infinity Ward are widely held to be superior). I really wanted to geek out with him about video games, but I didn't want to derail the table any more than Zach was already doing all on his own.
Continuing on the geek front, someone asked about the Y: The Last Man poster on Chuck's wall (which I don't think I've noticed wtf). Zach said that someone had actually handed him the first trade because she thought that he would be perfect to play Yorick in a movie-AND HOLY CRAP I NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT BUT WHAT THE FUCKING HELL HE IS YORICK YOU GUYS GO AWAY SHIA LABEOUF SOMEONE MAKE THIS HAPPEN INSTEAD-and he read it all in one night and then borrowed the rest of the series from a friend and loved it...and then walked onto the set to shoot the second season and saw the poster. It was kismet! Chris revealed that they'd actually tried to get the poster for the first season but couldn't get the rights. lenadances did ask about the geekiness, and while I did not ask her question directly, the general impression I got was that everyone on the writing staff was a huge geek-and filled with nostalgia for the eighties-but Chris and Josh were definitely the King Geeks.
It was kind of weird at the table. Before it all started, as you saw, I had no problem talking to Zachary Levi about what I had for lunch this one time, just like everything was normal. But once everyone else was at the table and we were Asking Questions, I felt less comfortable speaking up. I better only say something if it's important! I'd better not waste everyone's time! I'd better not look like a fool in front of all these tape recorders! I was very intimidated. Other people who had probably been to these things many more times than I had were quick to ask a question as soon as they sensed an opportunity; by the time I realized there was a silence, it was too late. I would start to say something and then someone else would be louder and more assertive. A few people at the table did the majority of the talking. I didn't get to say a single thing, really, during our time with Zach and Josh and Chris. They themselves were not intimidating, though; you could shoot the shit with them for hours if it was just you guys. Zach and Josh were clearly just as good friends as their characters are, which was not surprising. But now I want to be their friend!
Charlie asked whether we'd see more of the sci-fi trappings of the show, and I'll just link to her post (short answer: Yes, woo!).
Since Zach said Chris's general idea for the show was a "quarterlife crisis with espionage," someone had them expound more upon the quarterlife crisis aspect of the show. Zach and Josh, having recently gone through said crisis, talked for a couple minutes about the ways that experience is a part of the show. I hadn't really thought about it, but it does sort of speak to that issue, what with Chuck in a dead-end job and wanting to do more with his life. And as he goes on all these crazy spy missions, he learns more about himself and who he is and gets more comfortable with that. Which is what happens when you're...me. I go on fewer spy missions, however.
Chris talked about the making of the 3-D episode; apparently, they were the only show dumb enough to actually accept the offer to do an episode in 3-D. They considered doing just a section of the show in 3-D but decided that was too easy and went all out. They wrote the episode specifically to take advantage of the 3-D however they could (beyond the simple "throwing knives at the screen" gag). He said it was cool to be a genre show because you could do all these "special" episodes; he referenced Buffy and "Hush" and OMWF as examples. Future episodes of Chuck will include Chuck Live!, Chuck Underwater!, Chuck the Musical!, Chuck on Ice!, and Chuck Unplugged! (Spoiler warning: No they won't.)
They also geeked out about their favorite geeky guest stars, but I don't want to spoil anything! Chris was very excited about the table read for the finale, though, which was like geek heaven for him. Zack thought Stewie Griffin should guest star on the show (cue the Stewie impressions), and Josh wanted Vince Vaughn to work at the Buy More.
All in all, we spent about twenty minutes with the guys, and then it was time to switch the tables. We were to stay where we were, and the "talent" moved. But before that happened:
"Zach, I've been asked to take a picture of you making your 'I'm flashing' face."
"I'd have to be constipated in order to do that," he said. Laughter.
"That's exactly what I'm going for," I said. And so, ladies and gentlemen, I present:
HE'S SO DREAMY.
Zach said it was nice meeting everyone and told us to have a nice day, and then he moved to the other table. We shifted around a bit and then welcomed Adam Baldwin, Yvonne Strahovski, and Josh Schwartz to our table.
First off was the same "State of the Chuck Union" question, and, again, the feeling was pretty good. Josh said that this season of Chuck was the season of television he's most proud of in terms of execution and performance, so suck it, The O.C. and Gossip Girl. When asked to talk about where it was going, Adam and Yvonne were a little hesitant and asked Josh if they were allowed to say. We did get a small spoiler that I will not reveal! Unless you ask nicely. Josh did tell us that the finale was a "game-changer" and would reframe the show for season three. Also, I should note that Sarah Yvonne was of course speaking in her natural accent. It was very strange!
Someone asked Adam and Sarah Yvonne what they'd like for their characters in their future. Yvonne said she'd like to not work at a yogurt store anymore.
"But the outfit's better, right?" I said. I did not say that she looked way hotter in said outfit.
"I like the outfit better," she said. "But maybe the outfit will change again, next season." Adam suggested the bad economy would force the yogurt store out of business, and it would be replaced. "Why can't I do something classy like be a travel agent? Wear a nice suit or whatever."
"I don't think that's what America wants to see," joked Josh.
Charlie asked Josh what he thought about being up against The Big Bang Theory since it targeted a similar audience. Josh lamented their competition, but he thought that Chuck appealed to a lot of different audiences. It had elements of comedy, and it was sort of a procedural, and "if you like The Bachelor, Chuck...is a bachelor."
The end of the joke ("And will he choose Sarah?") was drowned out by our laughter. Zach, at the other table, fake-laughed really loud to show that they were ALSO having a good time. And then a minute later, for presumably unrelated reasons, there was a ton of laughter from the other side of the room where the SCC folk were, as if even they were trying to outdo us.
Adam and Yvonne talked about some of their other projects. Yvonne has a horror movie coming up, and Adam has a couple indie films out that he did during the strike.
Someone asked about stunts. Adam does about half of his own stunts, but, awesomely, Yvonne does pretty much all of her own stunts. She had stage combat training in theatre school and took some martial arts training when she started the show. Yvonne was also asked an interesting question about her accent and whether she uses it during the audition process. She had heard that some people spoke only in American accents, even when not reading, but she kept hers. We love Aussies, right?
AND THEN I FINALLY GOT TO ASK A FUCKING QUESTION.
I asked Josh Schwartz, creator of TV's Chuck, whether it was a conscious decision to have such an ethnically diverse cast at the Buy More or whether he just liked the actors. The Buy More is very colorful, I noted.
He said it was a combination of both, that he definitely wanted an accurate representation of the employees in those stores, but he also found some funny actors like Vik Sahay.
AND A FOLLOW-UP, IF I MAY.
I asked if he could talk about making him a HinJew. I mentioned that in The Guild, which he had not seen-damn, I should have totally recommended it to Zach; he would love it-the Indian character is also a HinJew. And it turns out that in the first pilot Josh ever wrote, he had a HinJew character named Kumar Zimmerman (played by Kal Penn!), so they were a recurring motif in his work. But mostly, he just wanted Lester to gamble on dreidels.
The geekiness question came up, and Yvonne said she was "clearly" not the geeky one (Josh: "What does that mean, 'clearly'?"). Adam's daughter was at the other table, and I recognized her as a girl who had said hi to me before we entered the press room. Adam asked her to tell us how geeky he was. She said he was ten times geekier than we thought he was. Adam asked her to tell us what he does that's really terrible. The answer? Dance. Hee.
I got the impression Yvonne wasn't as comfortable being there as, say, Zach. She was much quieter and less jokey than Adam, which was surprising because she seemed more outgoing and funny on the gag reel and other special features on the DVDs.
We'd gotten about twenty minutes with them as well when time was called. Someone slid a photo across the table and asked if Adam would sign it. "That'll be twenty dollars," he joked. Which, see! This is why I think paying for autographs is dumb. He would totally do it for free! And yet, I was still sort of scared to ask. He pointed at me yesterday! Maybe he thought I was Alliance scum.
In another conversation, I heard him say he did not like high school. "Yeah," I said, "you don't want to go to your reunion." It turned out that Liz Kretchmer was a legit person! She was someone he barely knew, though, one of the popular people.
I grabbed my Chuck DVDs and asked Zach if he would sign them. He would! He signed them to me and everything. Yvonne was posing for pictures (I don't remember anyone else being asked to pose for pictures), and afterward, I asked if she would also sign my DVDs. And she did!
During the second round of interviews, sainfoin_fields finally found her way into the room! Charlie had introduced herself to her, which was sweet.
The Chuck people disappeared into the other room for videos and such, and the SCC folk came to our room! Shirley Manson sat at our table, and Josh Friedman and Summer Glau took the other. Tris waaaaaaanted to be with Summer, but I told her that we'd switch.
Shirley talked about what it was like playing a Terminator and how her first acting job was going. It was hard, but she had learned so much from when she started. She doesn't like horror, but she's always loved sci-fi. This is going to be really disjointed since it was just her and the questions were sort of all over the place. But it was actually very interesting, and she was very at ease and gave good answers; she's no stranger to being interviewed, after all. She got some questions she obviously didn't want or care to answer and deflected them nicely.
Garbage did not write "The World Is Not Enough"; they just performed it. But Shirley's still happy to be part of the Bond franchise; just the day before she was flipping through channels on "telly" and caught the movie and was all, "Wow, that's me singing!"
Shirley told the story of how she got the job, which she has told and will tell many times. She and Josh are friends, and one day he said that she'd make a great Terminator, would she do it? And she said yes, thinking he was joking. But he was not! The end. It's not a very complex story.
Shirley thinks that Weaver is not evil, just a robot doing her robot thing (which is KILL ALL HUMANS, right?). She finds inspiration for the character in Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, who actually inspired her throughout her life, even as a lead singer (I later asked her whether any Garbage songs were secretly about Sarah Connor, and she said, "No, absolutely not," which was disappointing). But the two people that really inform her performance are MARGARET THATCHER and Glenn Close in Damages.
She doesn't get to do a lot of action, per se, since she's liquid, but she mentioned that handling guns was new and interesting because there's not much of a gun culture in Scotland. She felt like a professional actor and everything!
Tris asked about Weaver's relationship with Savannah. Shirley loved the addition of that character and the opportunity to play a mother who was so emotionally disconnected from her daughter. She also described Weaver as "gormless." Shirley praised the girl who plays the daughter, saying that sometimes what makes it onscreen isn't even the best take she gave.
Shirley, like all of us, totally loved her killing spree.
Two of us started asking a question at the same time, but I was asking a pretty dumb question, so I deferred to the guy behind me, who had not asked a question, but then he deferred to me since I had gotten more of my question out. Shirley, however, thought that he was first, actually, so we ought to keep our manners. His question was more interesting than mine, although the answer was not very informative (he asked about a potential robot caste system, and Shirley didn't think there was one).
Tris asked if Josh gave Shirley any motivational cues. Well, he told her nothing when she shot the premiere! He told her she was on his own, so she had to make it up. She wanted to go back and do the first five episodes over again know what she knew now. Her answer totally makes sense, though; she improves a lot during the season, and it's probably tied to the fact that she didn't really know anything about her character at first, so it was hard to, well, act. As she learned more, she got better, and now, I think she really owns the character to the point where I can't see anyone else in the role.
Our twenty minutes were up! We thanked her as she got up to go to the other table. I saw one of the other bloggers go up to her and tell her how much Garbage meant to her, and Shirley seemed really touched by what she said, though I couldn't hear it all. One of the more aggressive bloggers came up to me during the transition and told me that the question I'd asked the Chuck creator was "genius." Which...okay? Thanks? I totally forgot to ask him about hiding plot points in throwaway jokes, dammit.
Now, we got Josh and Summer!
I introduced myself to Josh, and he recognized my name! "Hey, how are you?" he said. He's a pretty friendly guy.
The first question was, of course, the State of the Union. And Josh had no idea! He hoped for a third season, but the ratings were not awesome. They were not crazy low either, however; the ratings drop after the move to Fridays was typical. It was a tough night. Plus, they did very well with men but not with women, which boggled him since he thought the show was very female-friendly in the themes it covered. They didn't have a lot of romance on the show, and although he didn't want to be so shallow as to think that was a big deal, the female writers on the show said that could be one reason women weren't tuning in.
But that gave me an opening to ask my question! See, I was getting better at this shit; I just had to go for it, dammit. I asked him about all the interesting one-shot female characters on the show; I found them so much more memorable and intriguing than those on other shows. How and why was he doing it better than other shows? He thanked me for saying so, but he didn't know that he was, since all he heard from fans was "Why are we spending so much time on all these peripheral characters? Where's Summer?" But then he went on to awesomely explain that those characters were supposed to represent different facets of Sarah or paths she could have gone WHICH IS TOTALLY WHAT I THOUGHT AND WAS GOING TO ADD ONTO MY QUESTION BUT I DID NOT AND HE VALIDATED MY OPINION ANYWAY AW YEAH.
Summer talked about...wait, I said Summer, didn't I? Oh, fine, HERE YOU GO.
Summer talked about her performance this season and how she loved the addition of Riley because she got to play the jealousy Cameron would feel when someone tried to take John's attention away from her. She's proud to be part of the show because it has such strong women characters.
(Summer was very quiet, and Josh moved the recorders closer when she began to speak. Heh.)
She talked a bit about her upcoming appearance on The Big Bang Theory, in which she plays herself. She said the actors are all extremely talented, and she didn't realize how talented they were until she went there.
Summer was scared about doing "Samson and Delilah," but she loved the script, and it's her favorite episode in the series.
When Josh wrote the season finale, he went back and looked at "Samson and Delilah" to see what promises he made in that episode to make sure that everything set up in that episode pays off in the finale. He didn't do anything differently in the finale than he would have done had he been more or less confident about getting a third season.
According to Josh, "I love you and you love me" is the secret to the entire season. DUN DUN DUN. (Score one for the robosexuals?)
I got to ask another question! I had it written down so I wouldn't fuck it up. I said that SCC was like no other show on television. It had a very different tone, and it was more thoughtful than your typical sci-fi action show. And they really hate exposition. The show trusts the audience to put things together, much like The Wire does. So I wanted to know what his storytelling influences were and why he chose to tell Sarah's story that way.
Before I'd even finished my question, Josh answered, "The Wire." It was probably one of my favorite shows. Summer had not seen The Wire, and she was going to Netflix it. I said it was amazing. Josh gushed about the show as well-as pretty much anyone who has seen the show does, of course-and called it the best television show in the last ten years.
"Without robots," someone added.
Josh loved shows and sci-fi that were immersive (like a Vernor Vinge novel (miniglik!!!)), and he compared SCC to The Wire (without wanting to compare it to The Wire because it was so much better). He did not like exposition, and it was the biggest source of conflict with the network. Lack of exposition unnerved them. But he was determined to write the show his own way. He contrasted the show with Lost, which he also loved. Lost could get away with lots of exposition and make its very complex plot easy to understand, largely because Sawyer goes around taking his shirt off and yelling exposition.
Summer loves sci-fi and sees no reason to stop doing it. Her mother read her a lot of sci-fi when she was a little girl.
Summer was not really happy with the promotional photo they used (you know the one), but she's grown to appreciate it as a symbol of her great experience on the show. Or something.
I think our twenty minutes were up and we just kept talking for a few minutes more. But then it was over.
I skipped over to Shirley behind me while Tris went and talked to Josh about Snakes on a Plane. I introduced myself to Shirley, who was supposed to know me and think I was cool, according to my friend on the show who told her about me last week, but it was not coming to her. I was the Veronica Mars superfan who really supported the show? No? Maybe? I think it vaguely came back to her.
So then I got to tell Shirley Manson that I loved Garbage and that Garbage was the first CD I ever bought. And, just as with the girl before, she seemed really touched and appreciative. I asked her if she would sign my liner notes, and she did! I said I regretted never seeing them live. I remembered when they toured with the Distillers, but I didn't make it to the show. She said that was a great show.
Then I went over and met Josh! He asked how I was doing, and I said I was nervous. He said I did well. I was shaking a bit; I said it was a little cold. "That's the adrenaline," he said. I couldn't keep my goddamn camera steady because I was shaking; that's why some of those pictures are blurry.
Shirley came by, and Tris took some pictures of us.
I'd like to note that NO ONE COMMENTED ON MY SHIRT. Wah.
I got Summer to sign my SCC DVDs. I asked her about her Batgirl shirt; sadly, she didn't actually read the comics, but she liked the shirt. And that was how I met Summer Glau? I am sure you were expecting more excitement there.
The talent had to leave, and then it was over! So little time! I didn't even tell anyone how awesome they were! What a wasted opportunity!
We were late for the Chuck panel, oh noes! They were showing a spoilery clip reel, so I didn't mind. We found some seats close to the front on the right, and I had Tris save my seat while I rushed back to the floor to see if I could meet Blair Butler from X-Play and Attack of the Show. But there was a line. Not a Felicia Day-size line, but a line nonetheless, and I thought she was great and all, but I wasn't going to wait in line for her. I did see her, though.
On my way back to the panel, I ran into some interesting ladies.
The panelists were out. Yeah, those guys I'd just been talking to? They were on the stage now. I didn't bother taking pictures because, uh, I'd just been inches from them. It was interesting to be at the panel right afterwards because, obviously, they got asked some of the same questions we'd just asked them and they gave very similar answers. It made me think of all the other panels I'd been to and what may have happened right before them.
Let's see, highlights from the panel. Zach demonstrated some move he'd made up for Chuck called The Morgan, where he covered his crotch with one hand and his mouth with the other and kicked one leg back in a protective gesture.
There was a lot of joking around. Adam-who had gotten the most raucous applause at his entrance-made some comments about Josh Gomez "handling his gun." When one audience member asked the cast what other character on the show they'd want to be, Josh answered that he would be Sarah Lancaster and just look at himself in the mirror all day. Yvonne started to answer, and Josh said that he'd stolen hers, hadn't he. But she went with Lester because he's funny. Adam said he would definitely be Captain Awesome. So he could make out with Sarah Lancaster. Zach, I think, pointed out that Sarah Lancaster was being played by Josh Gomez, and Adam changed his answer to Chuck, I think. And Zach said that he would be Casey.
One woman was from Colombia, and she spoke in Spanish for a translator. She loved the show so much that she had her husband translate the show for her as it aired. "Muchas gracias," said Zach. She wanted to know if they were going to bring the show to Colombia, which confused me because she was obviously watching it, but maybe she meant the show, not the show. Anyway, Zach said he thought that they were airing in Latin America, but if he had anything to do with it, he'd make sure it came to Colombia. The woman said that if the show set an episode in Colombia, they would be welcomed by many fans. "Mucho gusto," said Zach.
Zachary Levi loves being slapped by Yvonne Strahovski. Pass it on.
Zach acknowledged that he was very lucky to be able to make out with Yvonne and the many other women he's gotten to kiss on the show. Someone asked how they dealt with reining it in since there were so many almost kisses. Zach said that one time he did have a Philly cheesesteak before a scene; Yvonne remembered that one.
Josh Schwartz polled the audience on who wanted to see Bryce come back. I cheered. Along with five other people. Who didn't want to see Bryce come back? WOOOOOOOO!!!!111 I was really confused because Bryce is a cool character and I like the actor from Traveler. But then I remembered that Bryce gets in the way of Chuck/Sarah, so the crazy 'shippers do not like him, apparently. Zach was all, "Well, thank you for being so concerned about our relationship!" He wanted to see him come back, though.
Adam talked about his time on Full Metal Jacket and what a great guy Stanley Kubrick was.
Yvonne was asked what she liked best about playing Sarah besides getting to kick ass. She said that she loved being able to play so many different parts of Sarah.
Someone asked what the most embarrassing moment was, and they had a hard time trying to think of one until Adam said to Zach, "When you kissed me." Heh.
When the panel was over, Zach came up to the edge of the stage and signed stuff. Aw, how nice! Really, I want to be his friend. Someone make that happen. We had the same lunch at Vivian's; doesn't that mean ANYTHING?
We moved up a row or two for the SCC panel. They started off with a clip reel that was awesome. You'll get spoilers from me, but all my sources have said that this last run of episodes through the finale kick a lot of ass and are among the best episodes in the series, and they were not just blowing smoke. Starting this Friday, shit gets real, you guys.
You know, I can barely remember a damn thing from this panel. Maybe a lot of what was covered was already said in the press room. And most of the audience questions were dumb? One guy asked Shirley why she chose not to use her accent when she sang; he didn't know she had an accent until he saw her on the show. "Have you ever heard an alternative rock song sung in a Scottish accent?" she asked. "It would be ridiculous."
One person asked about the whole "Summer!" thing used on the Firefly set after a flubbed line. Summer told the story (which I'm sure all Firefly fans already know), but what I did not know was that it apparently even carried over to the Buffy and Angel sets. Ha.
Josh claimed that by the finale, "Everybody has a scene with everybody."
Some idiot asked Josh if they could expect anyone to yell at a light guy. And that was supposed to be the last question. Josh asked for another last question. "Make it better than that one!" I forget what it was, but I'm sure it was better.
Sorry I don't remember anything! Tris took notes, and her blog post will be much better than this write-up.
We scored front-row seats after the panel cleared the hell out post-SCC. Not many people excited for Harper's Island, it seemed. Tris went to get lunch while I watched the pilot episode. It was pretty good but a little confusing given that it's supposed to introduce 25 characters, all suspects in a grand 13-episode murder mystery where one or more of them get killed off each week. There were several familiar actors in the pilot. Christopher Gorham! Katie Cassidy! Harry Hamlin! Jim Beaver! And one very pretty girl I did not know but would watch the show for if I were so inclined.
And said girl was on the panel! Elaine Cassidy, presumably no relation.
She has an Irish accent! Which makes her even cuter!
I don't think any of you care about Harper's Island except for maybe harper47 on principle, but I'll gladly answer questions about the show if you're interested. Here, have some pretty people.
It's a murder mystery event! Fun times, right?
Whedonopolis was hosting a singalong. While it could never measure up to this one, they had some pretty neat props, including a very well made parking ticket with hilarious violations. And vampire teeth and finger puppets. rowanceleste found me somehow and, luckily, we had an extra seat in the front row.
They put the episode up on the big screen. At the last second, I realized I should make use of my new toy and record the singalong! So then you can hear what it's like at one of these things.
WonderCon 2009 OMWF Singalong
You can, uh, hear me pretty well. Sometimes I am awful; please ignore those parts and focus on the parts where I don't suck. You can also hear Tris a bit. The mp3 is only the songs, so it's about 35 minutes long (but the file is not that big). Some songs had more audience participation than others.
It was really fun to sing along, of course. "Walk Through the Fire" is really emotional! It's hard to sing that without feeling it. And "Something to Sing About" made me tear up. I think it's my favorite song in the episode. It's the one I relate to the most.
By the way, James Marsters is kind of popular. I don't know whether you were aware.
When the credits rolled (they brought the lights up before the "Grr! Aargh!" What the hell!), WonderCon was officially over! Man, it had been a time. Very different from last year, but still fun and exhausting.
Afterward, the three of us went for dessert and looked at weird books. On the BART ride home, I once again read Kabuki and was inspired to write. I don't think these posts count.