So I spent all. day. in Ballroom 20. Friday at Comicon was a perfect schedule for me. I was overstuffed with stuff by the time I wandered out. Loved it.
Stargate Universe
While I've only seen two or three episodes of this show, it seems to sport a really strong cast. I'm torn, however. I have a secret fondness for the ones that break the series pattern (Deep Space Nine, for example), but I also have a suspicion of needing to make a show "darker" and "edgier" in order to make it more "relevant." That usually just means that everyone will be grumpy and humorless and have lots of arguments about the Greater Good.
Which can be fine when I'm in the mood, but kind of a downer when I'm not.
Anyways. The panel itself was very entertaining, with Ming-Na putting on a one woman show over on one end and Robert Carlyle and his Scottish accent slouching over on the other. Alaina Huffman and David Blue were also on the panel. (I know it's shallow, but she has very pretty hair.) David got a lot of geek questions.
They started off with some good questions from the moderator, ones that managed to tease out some details about upcoming episodes (mostly without spoilers) and the actors' experiences. (There's one called "Twin Destinys," commented Robert Carlyle. "I think you can guess what it's about.") Moderation was pretty good across all the panels this year.
I loved that when the question microphone went dead, the moderator went ahead and asked the "what was your favorite scene" question one his own. And good for Alaina Huffman for having an answer right off the bat instead of hemming and hawing about how many there are and ohidunno...
Best line of the panel was from David Blue, wishing he had more time to play video games, then realizing the producer was standing right there: "I wish I had more time... but I don't want to die."
New episodes start in September.
Caprica
This is a show I'm looking forward to seeing come back. Unfortunately, new episodes won't start until January, which is disappointing.
(On a side note, can we stop pretending that it's still Season One when there is more than six months between the end of one batch of episodes and the start of the next. And quit it with the 1.5 crap; it's just a way of getting double money for the DVD sets and you know it.)
James Marsters was there, looking less fried with his natural hair-color.
Sasha Roiz who plays Sam Adama, Alessandra Torresoni (Zoe), Ronald Moore, and one of the other producers were the other panelists. And Magda Apanowicz (Lacy) popped in after a few minutes. (I'm going to assume she overslept and that explains why her hair was like that. She was a bit Eighties about the ponytail.) It was a good mix of people.
Everyone had great answers. Marsters in particular came across as very intelligent and talked about his character from a philosophical point of view. I liked the question to Ronald Moore about Caprica and Dallas. Because I'm the sort of person who loves the idea of a science fiction soap opera. It's my Reese's Peanut Butter cup of entertainment.
A lot of the audience questions dwelled on the connections between Caprica and Battlestar Galactica. The most interesting question that came out was the one about whether there would be stories about the six humans who were the original models for the Cylons. (The ones we met in BSG.) Ronald Moore thought it was a good idea but that it was too early to really get into at this point.
On the other hand, I liked that the creators seemed to understand that there was a danger of being "cute" in preloading too many references to Battlestar Galactica. They said that they wanted to be careful about too many in-jokes, but didn't rule it out entirely. To my mind, those first six would be the best place for it, but that's just my two cents.
Moore "firmly" believed that the show was coming back for a second season, which I certainly hope is true. I am very curious to see where they are going to go with this series. Even if Moore did also compare it to Titanic.
Potential t-shirt idea: Bad-Ass Buddhist.
The Big Bang Theory
So we started with Wil Wheaton, who I always liked. (I was so the target audience for Wesley Crusher.) And he suggested a sing-a-long. With the Barenaked Ladies. About whom I know two facts: that there was a band called Barenaked Ladies and that they wrote the theme song to The Big Bang Theory.
In other words, I had no idea that they had an accordion. Sweet!
Wil Wheaton (I'll never be able to separate those names again; it's like "Rebecca Dew") had good questions for the cast. I liked the response to the question about Leonard being the emotionally center of the show. One of the producers pointed out that he is being torn between Sheldon (who wants to hide from the world) and Penny (who is pulling him out into the world) and how that means he suffers for it.
It was a little disappointing to hear that they didn't think they could do an episode set at Comicon. I get that it's hard to go on location (in the middle of the summer break, no less) but couldn't they fake up a bit of the convention floor? Really? They could set the whole episode in line and run it in real time and still not have to go into a panel or the convention hall.
And as touched as everyone was the Wil Wheaton talked about how the cast likes each other, it's kind of hard to believe him when he says that it is "rare" to find that. Every. Single. Cast that comes along talks about how they like each other so much and are like family. So are all the shows I see are some kind of exception and everyone on the cop shows are assholes or what? Where are all these unpleasant people hiding that this is such a big deal?
Right. That went the way of being a bit of a complaint. Sorry. I really do like the show. I do.
Bones
Kind of drifted away from Bones. I generally burn out of investigator shows around year two and I never had any patience with the will-they-or-won't-they romance crap. I am as mushy romantic as the next girl who cries at Hallmark ads, but in this case, I'll care when they make up their minds.
That said, Hart Hanson, Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz (insert squealing here) have great chemistry together and were pleasant to watch.
Joss Whedon
Typical adorable stream-of-consciousness burbling.
Covered Buffy Season 8. Doesn't have much idea on when Cabin in the Woods is being released. Shepard Book graphic novel is coming out this fall, so Ron Glass can finally answer questions at conventions.
Whedon went to questions almost immediately, which meant that the whole thing hinged on the nice person screening the questions. Have to give them props because there was a nice mix. And only one in there that was of the "Remember the episode where X did Y, what was up with that?" And that one prompted this quote: "Drogan was the guy who couldn't lie and lived in a tree... I don't make this stuff up. That's what happened." Which I loved. (New info for me was that Angel Season Five was modeled after The Godfather.)
The question about Whedon's tendency to user long single-take shots got an interesting answer on how it's a technique that should be used wisely and why. He uses it to ground action in a space and keep people in the moment. In Serenity, it was used to contrast the chaos of the River / Simon / Operative introduction.
A question on killing characters focused less on "you killed my favorite" and more on "what is it like to tell the actors?" Whedon noted that sometimes it has to do with the business side of things (contracts, actors leaving). Otherwise, he tries to tell them early when he can. Kristine Sutherland (Buffy's mom, for example) knew two years before it happened.
What We Learned
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Lloyd wasn't evil until Season Two of Dollhouse, but what a good idea, huh?
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Someone is totally going to get around to looking into putting Doctor Horrible in Rock Band.
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Nathan Fillion seems to have a lot of time on his hands.
Best Line (of many)
"We had inadvertently shot an apocalypse."
Entertainment Weekly Present Ladies Who Kick-Ass
Kind of disappointing after the panel last year. Of course, it is hard to top Sigourney Weaver. I really don't have too much to say about this one. There wasn't anything new or exciting from any of the panelist or questions. Jena Malone came across as the most articulate and passionate, which is what I thought Saturday at Sucker Punch as well.
True Blood
Wow. That was a long day.
I have a friend who loves True Blood, so I stuck around to watch this panel. Not knowing who any of the characters were, I mostly just enjoyed the pretty. Anna Paquin also has nice hair - as did all the hunks. Much nicer that what they sport on the show if the footage was any indication. Too much of the slicked back look that's either indicating "product addiction" or "really sweaty."
I think in this case, I'm on Team Werewolf.
There was a description of how the latest over-the-top sex scene was shot. Which included a full body cast of the actress strapped to the actor and some digital trickery. That lead to the question of what were the cast's strangest moments on set. And that lead to me now having the mental image of a "small man" in a sink "doing something intimate" to some intestines.
What I Learned
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Celebrities who love True Blood reportedly include Snoop Dogg, Elizabeth Taylor, and Anne Rice.
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There are three kinds of "socks." They don't go on the actors' feet.
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The best trained animal on the set was the deer.
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Wolves are like actors. Too neurotic.
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Alan Ball doesn't think the show is about death, in spite of the massive body count.
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Alan Ball personally roots for things to work out between Bill and Sookie, but doesn't know if it will.
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Tara will "get a break" towards the end of the season, but it won't last.
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Alan Ball wants the show to run as long as it can, but doesn't want to have to explain why vampires are aging.
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Asked what their favorite non-True Blood vampires are, no one said Twilight. And no one said Dracula.
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Although someone did say "Keifer Sutherland from Lost Boys," so we're good.
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As a character on television, "Bubba" will be problematic for reasons having to do with Elvis.
Anyways. Like most of the panels, it was enjoyable to watch people who were passionate about what they do talk about what they do. The series itself certainly sounds wild. Perhaps I can find some room in my Netflix que.
Tomorrow: Short post on Green Lantern, Harry Potter, and Sucker Punch.
