Anyway, first of all I feel like I should
AND IT WAS WORTH EVERY MINUTE.
Even standing in line was worth it because they were filming extra bits for the Firefly Ten Year Reunion DVD, and someone who shall remain nameless (BUT IT WAS ME ME ME ME ME!) was filmed not once but twice for said DVD. No guaruntee my footage will make it on there, but my fingers are crossed (I think the Browncoat costume might have tipped them off as to what panel I was standing in line for).
Yes, folks, just sitting in the same room with those people was amazing. The grueling horrible details of what I went through to get into this panel will be detailed in a more realistic but slightly less effervescent post on the whole con experience.
Anyway, to start off, it was not the whole cast. I was kinda sad about that to be honest. The panel consisted of Jose Molina, Tim Minear, Alan Tudyk, Nathan Fillion, Summer Glau, Sean Maher, Adam Baldwin and of course, Joss Whedon. At the very beginning the moderator said something along the lines of, "I had a whole long speech prepared about the importance of Firefly but I think you know it (at which point everyone cheered like nuts)... so let's just get on with it."
He introduced Molina and Minear without a lot of fanfare, but then said, "This actor wanted to be introduced as bounty hunter and sandwich maker, but you know him better as 'a leaf on the wind.'" And the crowd went wild. :) Kelly Blackler, I screamed extra special loud to cover both of us! For those who might not know, I have a super huge little girl crush on Alan Tudyk. He's cuter than a monkey with a puppy. I actually can't remember how Fillion was introduced but I think it might have been as Captain Tightpants. Summer Glau didn't get a funny tagline, Sean Maher was introduced as "a good doctor, a better brother." Then the moderator said, "This is the audience participation part of the panel: The hero of Canton, the man they call....." And of course we all shrieked out, "JAYNE!" Then, once the prodigious screaming had at least slowed down a bit, they introduced the man himself, Joss Whedon who took a seat between Summer and Nathan.
Then there was another long pause while they waited for the screaming to stop once again. Eventually the moderator said, "Okay, sit down we have stuff to do!" At which point the entire panel got up and made to walk offstage. Laughter naturally ensued!
On the first question, the moderator asked Joss Whedon what it meant to be here on the tenth anniversary of this show. He made a couple jokes at first, then went on to say that they knew from the very beginning that they were doing everything right. He said he had the best cast he'd ever worked with... "and we also had Alan." :) Then he said something I thought was really amazing. I don't think I have it down exactly, but the gist was, "This goes beyond vindication, that came long ago. This goes to a place of transcendance that I can't describe without crying like a girlie man."
The moderator then asks Nathan Fillion the same thing, and he said that if he managed to get through it without crying it would look a lot cooler. He went on to describe how Joss Whedon was the only one who'd take a chance on him playing a leading role and launching his career.
They talk about the episode with the heist on Ariel and call Simon "the Danny Ocean of Imperial hospital heists."
The next question was one of my favorite moments.The moderator goes on a bit about how much fun they were obviously having and asks Nathan what it was like while filming episodes. Nathan starts a little and says, clearly startled, "Oh who me? Um... I'm glad you asked that.... I can't help but think... I should have been paying more attention to the question." Alan Tudyk then fields the question for him as he had been paying attention. He tells a story about how when filming first began Nathan came up to a big bunch of people and said, "Okay we're learning everyone names. You're Alan, you're Tim, you're Brian. It's a game and I'm winning." Then walked off. So it did become a game and apparently solidified everyone and even helped to eliminate the natural splitting off of cast from crew. I'm not very Grinch-like but my heart grew three sizes that day. :)
Next they showed the clip of Jayne getting that insanely wonderful hat from his mother and they asked about how much input Adam Baldwin had in that. He worked a lot with the props people he said and then went on to describe the hat as a "goldmine" and a "birthday cake in a wasteland." It was fun to see a man who usually plays such reticent characters get all excited about his hat and that he'd contributed to that part of the history. He then asked a trivia question that I can't remember and offered the hat he had on stage with him as the prize. :) Awesome prize...
The next question they ask Joss is regarding casting. Summer turns to him and says, "You can't change your mind now, I already did it." Joss replied that he could if George Lucas could and Summer laughed and gave him an appalled look. He shrugged and said, "I'm not saying we've had a meeting about it or anything...."
Joss also said that while he was grateful to have there the people who were there, it broke his heart that some of the cast couldn't be there. And not just so they could experience the reunion but also beacuse he missed them so much. He said Jewel Stait made him cry and Gina Torres was the most badass woman he'd ever met.
The moderator asked why Nathan Fillion was the perfect captain for Serenity. He revealed that there was never a time when he didn't consider Nathan the Captain.
During the fan questions, someone asked what their favorite piece of fan art or fiction was. Not sure this actually counts, but Joss said that his favorite was a picture that Alan Tudyk commissioned from his sister. It was when they found out that Firefly was being cancelled, and he asked his sister to paint a picture of Joss protecting a real firefly in a jar from "evil Fox executives" who were apparently just a bunch of hanging suits.
Another fan asked (and I thought this was a great question), "Do you all feel just proud of what you did or do you sometimes think 'where were all these screaming fans ten years ago?'" Joss said that he loved it when people apologized to him for not watching Firefly until it was out on DVD. His response is, "You're apologizing because you didn't see it until I got paid for it? You had to buy it from me? GODDAMN YOU." Then went on to say that the 27 people who saw it when it aired loved it.
And now we come to probably my favorite moment in the whole panel. I can't remember it exactly but Nathan said that when Firefly "died" he thought it was the worst thing that could have happened. But now, looking out at all the fans at the reunion, he realized that the worst thing would be if it had stayed dead. Joss asked the audience to please Tweet that he said that. :)
The next fan asked if they had ever camped out all night for anything and what it was. Joss replied, "Camping." I love that man's sense of humor.
There were a lot of good fan questions, but I think this was the best: "If you'd known there'd only be one season of Firefly, how would the ending of the show have differed from Serenity?" One of the things he said was that he wouldn't have killed anyone. Alan Tudyk raised his arms triumphantly. :)
Now things were beginning to wind down on the panel and the moderator asked one final question: "Joss, the phrase 'we're still flying' has become a mantra for the fans. What do the fans mean to you?" There's a long pause and a few sighs while he chokes up and tries to gather himself. Then there's a huge wave of fans (myself included) screaming out, "We love you, Joss!" which I suspect did nothing for his composure. Then came the standing ovation, first from the audience, then from the cast and crew members on stage. Once he is able to speak, his response (paraphrased of course) is to say that the way the fans have inhabited the world he created makes it real and when he gets with the fans, he doesn't think he's part of the show... he doesn't think there's a show, it feels real.
I think the thing I loved best about this panel was that in all felt very genuine. There was no one there who appeared to be not having fun, or gave the impression they were there only under obligation. In every panel it always feels like there's one who just isn't feeling it, and that was not the case here. It was all very warm and sincere, just as you might hope it'd be. :) Whenever I do something like this I'm always afraid that I'm going to walk away with my wide-eyed idealism shattered, but this time, there was no heartbreak in sight. It was absolutely a delight and well worth the time I put into it.
There are bits I've left out I'm sure, because I forgot. Can't remember everything I'm afraid, and I was a bit far away so I didn't get as many good pics as I might have liked. But here's one of the good ones.
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