Wizard World Philadelphia 2012 – Panels and Star Trek Coverage

Captains Panel

For such historic event, it wasn’t very informative (well at least for me, but I’m a SuperFan). The panel apparently started early with the captains driving around the room on two carts, while people were still waiting outside. Clare Kramer was the host of this panel, and even though guests were chomping at the bit to ask questions in the short 45 minutes allotted, she first lobbed each of them a softball question which took about ten minutes of the panel. When the floor finally was opened up, things got off to a rough start. The first question was “I’m not a Star Trek Fan, I’ve only seen one episode” (to which I yelled out “Get Him!”). Scott Bakula then interrupted to ask which one episode he’d seen, and it was the “Trouble with Tribbles”. The questioner then continued to ask Kate about some character she played on Broadway, to which she responded “I didn’t play that character in that play. I played a different one.” To which he responded “Well what was it like playing that one then?” like a damn jackass. Avery Brooks was asked if he thought there were any roles on television now he could liken to Sisko, particularly as being a strong African American male role model, to which he responded “No”, which was a running theme of his answers for the panel. He attributes this to the lack of “thoughtfulness” in today’s television landscape. William Shatner was then asked about his attraction to horses (not like that, he runs his own charity horse show), and he said that it has to do with horses being one of the few animals you can truly engage in a dialog with. You may think you know what your dog is thinking, but when you’re up on the back of a horse, trying to get it to do what you want, if you really listen, you can tell what the horse wants, and you have to work together to achieve anything. The Captains were then asked if there was a dream role they never got to play that they wish they could. Avery Brooks replied he didn’t have one. William Shatner said that his was preforming his one man show on Broadway. Kate Mulgrew said that she had just recently kicked one off her bucket list by playing Cleopatra, but she wanted to preform in a play by Chekov (the author, not the conn officer). Scott Bakula said he wanted to star in Shatner’s one man show. Patrick Stewart said he had the idea for a version of William Shatner’s one man show, with a rotating cast of the Captains all taking turns playing William Shatner. When asked about their favorite hero growing up, William Shatner said he didn’t realize it at the time, but it was Stan Lee. When asked for their favorite non Trek role, Kate Mulgrew said that hers was her one woman show as Hepburn. Patrick Stewart says his was in the David Mamet two man show he did with TR Knight. Scott Bakula said his were Sam Beckett for TV, and being in 3 Guys Naked From the Waist Down for theater. When asked what gadget from Star Trek they most wish they had today, Patrick Stewart said he wished he had Data’s instant recall, as getting old has made it harder to remember his lines. Kate Mulgrew said she would want a Holodeck, as that was the only place Janeway had any sexual relief. Avery Brooks finally answered a question, saying he would want a transporter.

At this point some dumb fangirl got the mic, and was all hyper squee about being there, and was all like “OMG! I just came from the Chris Hemsworth panel, and he was sooooooo hot, all the girls wanted to hug him because he’s a dreamboat, but, ummmmm, Mr. Stewart, I’d much rather have a hug from you!” like a bitch. At this point let me break down the rules of going to these panels, which a lot of people don’t seem to follow. When they used to give out programs, a lot of these were spelled out, but they are all common sense. As a questioner, you have a responsibility to the rest of the people there not to be a total jackass. Firstly, you can’t give the guest presents, and you should NEVER ask for a hug during a panel. That’s what the autograph line is for. Quit being a selfish bitch and wasting everyone else’s limited time together here. We all know you love their work in whatever they did, that’s why you’re here talking to them. Not everyone needs to thank them for coming today. Don’t ask them anything from their wiki page. Don’t ask them simple yes/no questions, or something so broad as “What’s Star Trek like” or “You still see those guys from the show?” that they have been answering over and over for 40 years. Make it an original open ended question. I assume you should know a little about the person, so don’t ask them to recall common stories that have been in print and retold numerous times, like “What did you think of Chris Pine as Kirk Mr. Shatner?”, which of course, was asked. Also, no 5 part questions. You get 30 seconds to get the words out of your mouth, if you can’t sit the fuck down. If it helps, write it down first and recite it. I don’t need all the crazy back story to your question, just ask it. At best, you get one well formed question, and maybe a follow up for the group if you asked one person something specific. If there are 5 people on the panel, you don’t get to ask five questions. Don’t just ask the first thing in your head. You should have put serious thought into your question before you got in line at the mic. Don’t monopolize the whole panel simply because you were the nerd who overcame their shyness to go up to the mic. Everyone should get a fair chance to ask something if they want. Be sure to actually ask a question, don’t just get up and tell a story.

Even though this girl broke several of the rules, Sir Patrick got down off the stage and hugged her, because he is of course that cool. However this girl’s selfishness dragged the panel to a stop, because once he was offstage, there was no way for Patrick to get back on stage, and he had to go out the back door and loop around, bringing the panel to a screeching halt. When the panel got back on track, they were asked about their most intense or creepy experience filming an episode. Kate Mulgrew said hers was working with the Viidians, the scavenger race of organ stealers from early Voyager episodes. Scott Backula said his was filming “In A Mirror Darkly”, because it was a surreal experience being on that rebuilt bridge, and that everyone was trying to find a excuse to come see the set, even though by that point the show had been canceled. Patrick Stewart then told of the filming of “Chain of Command”, in which his strike team of Beverly, Worf, and himself are caught in a cave in. Beverly was to have her leg trapped under a rock, and he had to pull her out, and there was only one way to do it safely and still get the shot on camera, basically he had to drag her out under her arms. When he went to do it, he ended up full on grabbing both her breasts as he dragged her out from under the rock. Everyone was asked to comment on Majel Barret, as she was a running theme through every series. Patrick was the only one who ever really worked with her, as she was mostly voice over in the other series, and he said she brought a “charming vulgarity” to the show. Then breaking more rules, a girl got up to just thank all of them for Star Trek, as the show brought her hope while waiting for a kidney transplant. In fact, she said she met two donors through Star Trek Online, one of which was in England. While of the people who play Star Trek Online, I’m not surprised they would do that, but as I’ve stated before, I’m surprised anyone plays that game seriously for her to run into. The panel ended with all of them saying no to being on Dancing with the Stars.

Autographs and Photo Disaster

So right after this I was able to race over to the photo ops booth, and both my photos were ready. I then went over and got in line for all the captains, with absolutely no wait whatsoever. I was able to breeze through in about 5 minutes tops. Patrick was all business, and had a sign up for no handshakes due to arthritis, which I can’t hold against him. Kate and Scott were next and both were very pleasant, Scott especially so. He commented both on how good the picture turned out and my wealth of costume changes and was just an all around great guy and shook my hand both before and after signing. Next was Avery and his general craziness, but he too was very nice and shook my hand, I felt bad though because I walked right up to him with no line whatsoever, but he does do a lot of Philly appearances. Then it was time for Shatner. The people in front of me where complaining that they had to spend an extra $5 for a photo to sign since they didn’t have one, to which I responded “Hey, those horses need to eat, horse feed ain’t cheap”, to which he laughed a bit and waved me around them. I asked him if he could make out the individual photo to me, and he said “I’m sorry, I can’t do that John” and I said “Well, I can certainly ask. Thank you, and I love all the books you did with the Reeve-Stephens“, to which he nodded politely and said thanks.

At this point it was pretty much the end of the day, and all I had left was my Quantum Leap Photo. This was originally scheduled for 11:45, but as mentioned early, mismanagement lead to time slips. And again, this one went late as well, as it was scheduled for 6:15, but Scott Bakula didn’t show up until 6:40. Dean Stockwell was there on time, and was not in a good mood after being made to wait, in addition to his general looking like shit. I heard that earlier in the day he was “misplaced” by his volunteer handler, and got lost in the dealers room, not knowing where his booth was, and was wondering aimlessly until some vendor offered to walk him back to his booth. I’d be pissed too. Scott was again a delight, all friendly and shaking hands.

Since the show closed at 7, and I was coming back the next day, I didn’t stick around to pick up the photo. I’m glad I didn’t because apparently that is when shit the fan. Like most photo ops I’ve seen, completed ops were thrown out on a table next to the photo room. With the sheer number of photo ops going on, Wizard was begging for a disaster, and it happened. Now, the numbers vary based on different reports, but apparently someone walked off with between 100-300 printed photos off the photo table. How that can happen I have no idea. The photo table was in a high trafficked area, and even when the traffic was light, there was always at least someone around. Apparently some people ended up staying till past 9 to get a copy of their photo reprinted, others just left with the promise they could go to the photo op website and file a form to get a copy mailed to them. This lead to all the photo ops printed on Saturday getting moved over to the registration line on Sunday morning, with a staff member looking through piles of photos and handing you yours. Which really is a much safer system, but it requires more manpower, hence Wizard won’t do it. Sunday afternoon photos done that day were back out on the tables by the booths.

Sunday

Sunday turned out to be my shopping day, but I was pretty exhausted, so I kept it light. I stopped by our friend Bill from Frankenstein Comics (and I didn’t even almost die), and found a guy doing long boxes for $50. Besides that, the only thing I had on my plate was the Quantum Leap panel, scheduled for 11. In more mismanagement (see a pattern yet), all five Captains only had a very short window of signing together on Sunday. Shatner was in photos from show open until 11:30, there was a five captains photo scheduled for 10:45 for a half hour, yet the Quantum Leap panel was scheduled at 11, obviously conflicting. I got in line for Scott at 9:45, but no one running the lines had any idea what was going on. Eventually they let us line up in the roped off area, and then we ended up waiting until about 10:20 for anyone to show up. So they all would have been signing for about 15 minutes together before they ran over for the group photo. I was then able to walk right up to Dean Stockwell (who’s booth was right next to all the Captains) and I was the first person he talked to all morning, and I felt so bad for him.

Even though I knew there would be a conflict, I went down to the panel room anyway. This panel was run by Dr. Langley, and he ran a tight ship, keeping everyone to the rules, one quick question then out. After a few minutes of time killing by watching movie trailers, I yelled out “Can you finish the Batman panel?”, and he did, which was awesome. He started taking questions about Batman, and everyone was surprising OK with that, I didn’t see anyone get up and leave, but also I was in the first row. Eventually the guests arrived, Dean coming in through the front door, and while we were all distracted, Scott came in the back and walked through the room, and ended up waiting right in front of me before he jumped on stage.

Dr. Langley then asked one setup question, to weed those people out of the line, as it comes up all the time, what were their feelings on the last episode. They both said that it was tough, as Don Bellasario didn’t know it would be the last episode at the time, and did the best he could with it at the time. When asked of their favorite episode, Dean said his was the pilot, “Genesis”, while Scott says his was “The Leap Home”. Scott then talked about how he was vexed that the show never got a Emmy for wardrobe, as their costumer would make such great period pieces for them. He then said he’d always make the costume people cry because anytime he leaped into a woman, they made such beautiful dresses, but then he would put them on and they would look silly. Scott said that had they made it to a season 6, some of the ideas floated around were that Sam would have leapt into a baby, and that somehow he would have leaped into an animated character leading into a animated episode. When asked his thoughts on the Enterprise ending, Scott best summed it up as “awkward”, and that it was never a good feeling when a show comes to an end. When asked about Quantum Leap and how it took on issues, he said that was never Bellasario’s intention, and that he would have denied that the show was about that. Bellasario always said he set out to make entertaining television first, and anything else was secondary to that. Scott was then asked if he thought that if Sam’s wife wasn’t swiss cheesed out of his memory, and he still remembered her, would he have made different choices in the end, to which he said no, Sam always felt he had a higher calling that that would not have changed. He was then asked if he ever got to actually see the people in the other side of the mirror when they did the reveal shot, and he said that he almost never did, they did it all in post production. The one exception was when his personal trainer was cast when he played a FBI agent.

Final Thoughts

So, what are my thought on the show overall? Well, the dealers room and artist alley is always good. It’s a good way to meet your favorite artists and see new stuff you might not be familiar with. And all the other standards of the con are great. Seeing all the cosplay, picking up books on the cheap, finding things your regular store doesn’t have. That is pretty much a given at any con you go to, no matter what or where. But when it comes to things Wizard actually controls, they suck, and they suck hard. Since Wizard folded the magazine, this is their main source of income. And it really shows they are all about the dollar. They bring in lots and lots of big names, then have them spam far more photos and autographs then they have time for, so then they need to rush everything and they cant keep a schedule. Better run shows (i.e. Creation) realize that while they could sell more, there needs to be a hard limit to keep everyone happy and the show moving along at a good pace. All the prices for things at this show are far above other shows. I spent less 3 weeks ago at the Creation Con to see Patrick Stewart then today. They tried to charge to get into the big panels, then quietly reversed the decision. This isn’t limited to Wizard, but the volunteers are never trained in any way. Ask any two what a line was for, or when something was, you’ll get a different answer. It also didn’t help that many times, there were legitimately two answers. The photo op schedule listed on some of the Captains tables were different than the ones in the book and on the website, and made much more sense then what was actually done. They are severely understaffed, and what staff they do have is volunteers, which leads to things like the photo thefts.

If it weren’t for the historic significance of the event, and the fact that it’s 10 minutes from my house, I would not have spent so much. And I will certainly never get a VIP pass again, since they sell so many of them they are practically worthless, and if you time your stuff right they become pointless and are just a money grab, but I wanted a reputable autograph from Nimoy because I don’t have one.

They sell the show on the power of all the guest stars, but there was literally no way possible to do everything there was to do. I would have loved to see both Chris Hemsworth or CM Punk, but my entire afternoon was spent waiting in line for the Captains, even though I was a VIP. It left me with a choice of 3 distinct things to do, and you could only do one, which is a real bummer. It’s great they can get big stars in for 3 hours, but if all they do is take photos, it’s kinda pointless. The schedule was such that there was no way you could have possibly had your picture taken with either CM Punk or Chris Hemsworth AND gotten them to sign it before they left (regardless of the theft incident).

Would I go again? Yeah, but again, mainly because it’s close to home. But I certainly would have very low standards, and would mainly go to shop, and avoid the panels unless it was someone totally awesome who I had never seen before because I have little faith they would actually show up for more than a few minutes.

As for the guests, I didn’t see many besides the Star Trek ones and Anthony Michael Hall, who was really nice, and remembered me from the panel even though I had changed and said I asked a great question, and was patient while we retook the photo because I blinked. I shook Dot Com from 30 Rock‘s hand. I’m glad I decided to skip the Shannon Elizabeth photo, as she was dressed down in a frumpy top that covered everything up. It’s like, hey, your claim to fame is being naked in a pie fucking movie, show off the goods. If I didn’t know any better I would have thought she was just another (albeit hot) mom walking the floor, as I saw her more often walking around with her handler then at a booth. Melissa Joan Hart looks exactly like Clarissa aged twenty years, which is pretty much what happened. Peter Mayhew and Jeremy Bulloch look like crap and I never saw anyone at their tables. Same with all the wrestlers at the one booth they all shared. However, the Bella Twins really are that stunning in person, though they are terrible wrestlers. They really do look exactly alike, and I could see “Twin Magic” working for real. If Hayden Panettiere was there, I never did find her.

So, what all did I spend, and what did I get?

• Prepaid on Card
• • Shatner VIP pass – $375
  • 5 Captain Photo – $499
  • Quantum Leap Photo -$125
  • Anthony Michael Hall Photo – $35
  • William Shatner Autograph – $75
  • Patrick Stewart Autograph – $75
  • Avery Brooks Autograph – $40
  • Kate Mulgrew Autograph – 2 x $40
  • Scott Bakula Autograph – 2 x $40
• Card Total – $1384

• Cash at Show
• • Anthony Michael Hall Autograph – $25
  • Dean Stockwell Autograph – $30
  • Kate Mulgrew Photo – $5
  • Scott Blair Pin Up Art – $115
  • Books @ 5/$1 – $25
  • Books @ 2/$1 – $56
  • Books @ 1/$1 – $88
  • Books priced as marked – $10
  • Frankenstein Comics – $5
  • Books @ $50/box – $50
  • Jewelry – $27
  • Bags/Boards – $26
  • Food/Misc – $28
• Cash Total – $490

• Grand Total – $1874

Was it worth it? Did you not see this? I think the answer is yes.

I spent $800 on this, I’m going to show it off every chance I get

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JohnScott is the proud owner of a life size replica Captain Kirk Chair. He is a hoarder of Comic Books, Transformers, and Star Trek action figures. He attended Space Camp as an adult. He has taken vacations to the closing of the Star Trek Experience and the final night Shuttle launch. He has been known to yell at his television when the kids can't put together the damn statue in the Shrine of the Silver Monkey. When not writing for InsufficientScotty, he is a Software Engineer for a major healthcare communications company. You can Email or follow on Twitter @NotEnoughScotty or Facebook