whedonesque.org • View topic - San Diego Comic-Con 2008: reports, vids, photos, etc.

Well, leading into my

Saturday

continuation, she was right about the Futurama panel being cool - the voice guys were clearly enjoying themselves up on the stage, and they had a great rapport. (BTW, it was a pretty long line to get into Ballroom 20, even at 9:30, but it moved quickly, and the room was still only half-full when we sat down.) The Simpsons panel was lower energy, I think because the panelists were all "co-executive producer" this, and "assistant chief producer" that, and half of them didn't say a thing. Matt Groening, on the other hand, didn't say much, but was terrific every time he opened his mouth. Don't know how he does it, but he walks the line between mega-bucks creator of these fabulously popular shows and man of the people street-cred guy from Portland, Oregon, who kicks against the establishment (he could probably *buy* the establishment), with great aplomb. He told a lovely anecdote, in response to a Q about the possibility (hah) of over-saturation by Simpsons merch, of how he found a beautiful original beach diorama of the SImpsons family at a Comic-Con booth some years ago and learned that it was made, illegitimately, in Australia. The vendor, catching on, suddenly asked him if he was "speaking to the creator of the show." After Groening agreed he was, the vendor told him that "it would be an honor to sell" the piece to him.

Dean Koontz was plain bizarre; although he was at times very articulate, and said some wise-old best-selling authorly things, it was hard not to be distracted by the thing (rug? bird? something else?) on his head, and his perma-tan. And he did like to refer to his own brilliance, usually in the reflected glory of other people's descriptions of him. I spent most of his talk outside the hall in line for coffee and nachos.

The Dollhouse panel, which I'd been feeling a bit diffident about (no extra clips b/c of the pilot reshoot; the "distraction" of the Dr. H buzz), was tremendous fun. I was LOL-ing throughout, frankly. It was all Q & A - no moderator, - and Joss, Eliza, and Tahmoh wandered on and just plonked themselves down in loose fashion. And then took questions. I loved that all three were so into one another, especially the Joss-Eliza and Joss-Tahmoh couplings. :-)

Tahmoh made sure to move his chair up right next to Eliza, and spent much time whispering stuff in her ear, while Joss and Eliza shared more than one hand-hold, arm touch, and the like. I frankly have never been the hugest fan of ED, but she won me over at the panel with her fire and frankness. And, um, understated good looks and charm . . . "Elk-hunting" was a hoot, as was her post-Joss challenge to the woman who asked whether the show would be a little mundane, "How d'ya like him now!" Joss seemed more relaxed to me than he had been at the Dr. H panel, and acknowledged recycling at least one line ("dozens and dozens of dollars!") he'd used the previous day. Tahmoh, whom I barely know at all, seemed pretty excited to be there, and openly raved about working with Joss.

After that was over, and not wishing to be spoiled for the next 3 seasons (ahem) of BSG, I made my apologies and left. Tracked down the cast of The Guild (took me 3 separate trips to the Browncoats booth and to the free autograph signing area to get 'em all) to sign my DVD, had a very quick chat with Felicia and Sandeep, who was a great guy, and watched Vincent (Bladezz) do some fricking amazing card juggling tricks. Went off-campus for a beer with a law school buddy who's now a federal public defender in SD, and it was good to get away from the madness for a while. Then met Whedonesquer bobster, a very smart guy whom I'd met a couple of times before, for a very brief kaffeeklatsch.

I left early Sunday morning to avoid the end of Con rush, and that worked out well. But I regret not making the Buffyoke. I didn't really push to attend many events, or meet guests, or find merch, and I think I had a much funner time because of that. Others reported, incidentally, that the panel and preview for new show Kings was the awesomest thing at the Con; that Fringe looked pretty good, but the panel was marred by a terrible moderator, who asked panelists questions like "iPhone or Blackberry?"; that the Bones panel showed some ew-worthy clips involving, well, crap; and that Mila Kunis was unexpectedly good on the Day the Earth Stood Still panel. And that's all I got.

Except to mention another fav snippet of the Dr. H panel that might not have received enough attention: NPH (again) recounting how, when he first was learning the lyrics to "Brand New Day," didn't have written lyrics, only an iPod with Jed singing the song, so he'd sing along, "Thisappearedasamoraldilemma fllgihmbe. . . FUCK," pause, rewheel, start again, "ThisappearedasamoraldilemmacosatfirstitwasweirdthoughIalkasdfhasd . . . FUCK," pause, rewheel, start again, and so on. He's a damn funny guy. :-)