Sorry this post is late! I kind of forgot this was my day. Actually, last week, I asked a friend about guest blogging. She said yes, then forgot about sending me the post, and I forgot to remind her, and I've been working a new job (always stressful), and I let this fall by the wayside. So sorry!
But it works out! I have 19 Google Alerts that have links to Comic-Con reports. I've been letting them sit because I had so much important stuff to do! But now I'm "forced" to read through and find the best links to post here. So here they are!
First check out The WB's Supernatural at Comic-Con video—high-quality vid with interviews with the boys, shots of them doing autographs, bits of the panel, and an interview with the show's music supervisor.
Some caveats: "Best" really means "best first," because if I see a decent article and then I come across another decent article but it says the exact same stuff, I won't link to it. Doesn't mean the first one is really better than the second. Also...BEWARE OF SPOILERS. I won't post spoilers here, but once you click through, you're on your own! :)
Okay, first up, Digital Spy live blogs the Supernatural panel. This hits all the big stuff: Kripke's take on the finale and the upcoming season, how long after the finale the premiere starts, what Castiel's up to, Jensen's directing, and a couple of jokes by Jim and Misha. :)
Zap2it interviews Sera Gamble, who elaborates on where the season starts, and tells us a whole lot about how they're taking on vampires this season. There's a report, but the actual video is at the bottom.
I've always been a fan of the odd, like X-Files and shows like that, and I grew up watching monster movies, so Supernatural was a show I knew I'd like from the beginning. When I was struggling to come up with a post for today, I thought about all the new weird shows out this summer. Some I'm watching, some I haven't tried.
Haven--I LOVE this show. LOVE the heroine, love the characters in the town, love the scenery, love the dialogue. The setting is a town in Maine, and an FBI agent has traveled there to investigate the disappearance of a felon. Turns out some supernatural phenomenon had occurred and our lovely FBI agent had figured it out, alone with the broody deputy. She found out clues about herself while there, so decided to take time off to investigate. So far there are no monsters, just phenomenon, but I like the characters and setting enough to go along.
The Gates--I'm on the fence about this show about werewolves and vampires living in an upscale community. It's very shiny, like Eastwick, with beautiful people hiding their true natures, especially from the new sheriff, who has secrets of his own.
Warehouse 13 and Eureka are shows I don't watch, but I'd think they'd fall in this category.
If you've been reading this blog for a while, you may recall that in March 2009 I got to go to the Creation Entertainment Salute to Supernatural (link is to my post last year) in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Jared was supposed to go and canceled at the last minute, but in my report, I called it the best weekend of my life (amended to top five, because...you know).
Number One (my oldest daughter, turning 15 tomorrow) and I saved up the money for tickets, but we weren't going to go this year unless Jared and/or Jensen was going to be there. Except she really wanted to go anyway, and it was a week before her birthday, so I was prone to saying yes. When they announced ticket sales and the only guests were the Ghostfacers, we (me and Lori and Megan, my compatriots from last year) were on the fence. But we wanted the Gold Package, we wanted row C, so we caved and bought tickets.
Then they announced Misha. And slowly, over the next several months, Richard (Trickster), Alona (Jo), Samantha Smith (Mary), Aldis (Jake), Rob (Chuck), and Katherine (the last Lilith). So that was cool. Not thrilling, but cool. Then one of the Ghostfacers backed out—Ed, I think. No, Harry. No, Ed. Oh, who cares? It meant one Ghostfacer. We were hoping for Jason Manns again, but we got Steve Carlson. Who was fine! I don't want to offend Steve Carlson fans. :) But I like Jason better. Over the next seven months, we had several bitter conversations about how Jared and Jensen hate us, and then they started filming and would have canceled at the last minute anyway. I don't know which would be worse. It was a lot of money for no Js.
Then Richard and the other Ghostfacer backed out two days before the convention, and I was muy disappointed. They added Matt Cohen (Young John Winchester) and Fredric Lehne (Yellow Eyes), which was cool. But honestly, last week, I wasn't excited. I looked forward to a trip away, and time with my friends, and a unique experience with my daughter, but the rest...meh.
So guess what happened?
It was better than last year.
I'm going to do the same thing I did last year: post my personal experiences, instead of reiterating stuff that's been all over the web for a week already. I don't have a lot of pictures to post, because we were too far from the stage and they mostly came out dark or blurry or you can barely tell who they are. Kayleigh from last year (with her sister Mallory) was right up front and posted some great photos and notes.
The Highlights In case some of our readers don't troll the web or have Google alerts set up, I have to tell you that Fred is going to be back on Supernatural! He teased it on Friday, and credited us (the fans) for making it possible, then said flat out on Saturday that he was filming this week. So he'll be showing up early in the season.
I suggest everyone over 18 Google "Fred Lehne hamster pile Twister."
And check out reports of Misha's first stage session, especially.
Matt Cohen gave free hugs for two days. He gives good hugs.
Observations from Stage Time Everyone was great. Funny, sweet, engaging. They all seemed really happy to be there. You could tell who had done this a lot (Misha) and who was new (Katherine). The new people were a little more guarded, though not in a "hold back" kind of way, more in a "what are they going to do to me" kind of way.
I loved Matt Cohen as Young John (or Baby John, as Megan calls him), but wasn't that fussed about him. He's about a million times cuter and more charismatic in person. Even if you think he's adorable or hot or whatever...until you meet him, you have no idea. Hooooooo, boy!
I was surprised how many of the actors are from NJ originally. Fred, Mary Samantha, and Aldis, and maybe one other person, I'm not sure.
There were a lot more people there this year, right from the beginning, and more guys (probably due to there being more female guests). We saw tons of familiar faces. The most obnoxious people weren't there (we had a new one, but I won't talk about her...). I'm still bad at social interaction, but managed to muddle my way through a few conversations. *waves at Kayleigh and Mallory*
The One-on-Ones We actually had a lot less one-on-one time with the stars this year. But somehow, that didn't make it less of an experience. The karaoke party was more official, and Alona and Matt emceed and sang with some of the brave souls. Number One took too long to pick a song, though, and she got called up on stage two songs after they left. :(
Lori's husband's club membership got us rooms on the top floor, which is of course where the celebrities stayed. I had three encounters with them:
Encounter One
Random Man Walking Down the Hall with Woman Who Dropped a Piece of Paper: Hey. How ya doin'?
Me: *polite smile* "Great, thanks. How are you?"
Man: *smiles back, friendly* "I'm awesome."
*beat*
Me: *OMGTHAT'SFRED* "You were great today!"
Fred (over his shoulder): "Thanks!"
Me: "No, thank you!"
Encounter Two
Steve Carlson Passing Me in the Hall: "Hey."
Me: "Hey."
Encounter Three
Saturday night, very late, Lori, Number One, and I caught a 1.345-second glimpse of Matt crossing the hall from one room to another. Megan had walked in the other direction and our whispered screams for her attention didn't reach that far. No dialogue on that one.
I reiterate my assertion from last year: The Gold Package is the only way to go! Dessert Party, Concert, Breakfast, AND a far shorter wait time for autographs.
So here were my one-on-one experiences:
Misha Collins In his first Q&A session, he didn't give a single straight answer to anyone. It was all craziness. SO different from last year! At the autographing, I asked at what point (between last year's con and this one) he went insane. He said it was always there, but latent. We talked a little about how it's more fun, etc., and he agreed that it curbs the boredom of the same questions over and over again. He went a little straighter on the second day. It must have been the tie.
I hardly remember what Misha talked to us about at the dessert party, besides the awfulness of the pie. Oh, yeah, he commented on how the four of us seem to belong together. LOL Then he left his pie at our table.
We won't say any more about that.
Matt Cohen Matt is one of those guys who is so good-looking, and who works so hard at maintaining his hotness, that he's very obviously aware of it and his effect on people. But he also managed to seem sincerely appreciative of our appreciation and was even slightly red a couple of the times he claimed to be blushing.
When someone at the mike said she was nervous, he got all up in her face, teasing her, then hugged her in consolation/comfort. So then the next person said she was nervous, so he hugged her, and then he said he thought we needed more hugs in the world, so he hugged every person who came up to ask a question, every person who got a photo op, and every person at the dessert party. When he came to our table, I asked if he regretted it yet, and he said no, his arms weren't tired, his chest didn't hurt. I said, "Yeah, but three or four conventions from now..." and he said "Maybe it will just be a New Jersey thing."
So you know what that means. Put July 8-10, 2011, on your calendars right now. :)
Matt charmed us so much we all pitched in for a second photo op and all got in the picture. We bought two ops, plus the jpegs, and Chris, the photographer I mentioned last year who's so freakin' cool, made extra prints for us on site. The second photo was a little more candid and a brilliant reminder of the awesome weekend.
Aldis Hodge Poor Aldis. He finished filming in Portland at 3:00 a.m. Saturday and flew to Jersey to be on stage and then in the photo ops and autographing, then he was at the dessert party until 12:30. I asked him around 6 if he'd slept all day, and he hadn't. Number One started to tell him, as he signed her poster, that she hadn't been watching Leverage but was about to start, but she pronounced it LEE-verage out of habit, and he teased her. :)
I can't remember what he talked about at our table. Not having time for TV, I think, because I said "well what are you doing, cool stuff like inventing watches and building violins?"
Yes, I am lame.
Samantha and Katherine They were at the breakfast on Sunday, and I was so intimidated by Samantha's beauty and grace and so taken by Katherine's sweetness that once again, I can't remember what we talked about with them! Megan will remember, as she carried the conversations, as she always does.
I have a very hard time not calling Samantha Mary.
We didn't get one on one with Alona, except for Number One, who got a photo op with her, then endured many comments that they could be sisters. She was told to dress like Jo for the costume contest next year. :)
I'm going to wrap it up there, leaving you with my favorite fan vid of the weekend. The creator won a prize with it, as well as with a pop-up book she created for the centerpiece contest. It had a winged Castiel, the Impala, and a column of light (really lit!) in the convent. She's very talented. :)
So you all must join us next year! Okay, I don't know if I'm going yet, it depends. I have absolutely no hope Jared or Jensen will decide the Northeast is worth their presence, but now I know Creation and the guests they do get will guarantee us a good time.
Spoiler TV has some non-spoilery on-set pictures from the start of season 6.
Zap2It has a fun, lightly-spoilerish article talking about the return of the YED, Jensen's directorial debut and Jim Beaver's rough shoot for Weekend at Bobby's.
ScreenRant has a full review of Batman: Under the Red Hood
The Daily Record said Matt Cohen (Young John Winchester) completely charmed fans at NJ's Salute to Supernatural convention.
Jared takes time out from filming season 6 to make a video plea for fans asking them to vote for the Dog's Life Rescue in the Chase Community Giving Contest.
So, the Emmy nominations came out yesterday (just when I was trying to figure out a topic for today. How convenient!). Supernatural was nowhere to be seen.
Aside from editing and music and hairstyles (????) and title design, here’s the categories where it could have gone.
Art direction
Glee
Heroes
Lost
Modern Family
True Blood
The Tudors
I love me some Glee, but art direction? No. And while I don’t like Heroes anymore, it does have some great art direction. Supernatual could have gone here in place of Glee. (I don’t watch Modern Family, but I hope The Tudors wins, because that is one beautiful show.)
****
Casting
Big Love—don’t watch
Dexter—don’t watch
Friday Night Lights-deserving
The Good Wife--deserving
True Blood--deserving
Mad Men—deserving
Okay, so it can’t go here.
****
Cinematography
Breaking Bad—don’t watch
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation –don’t watch, but please
FlashForward –stopped watching
Mad Men –deserving
The Tudors –deserving
So I don’t know—could it go here?
****
Directing
Breaking Bad –don’t watch
Dexter –don’t watch
Lost --deserving
Mad Men--deserving
Treme—no idea what this is
What about this? Could it replace one of these?
****
Lead Actor
Breaking Bad--Bryan Cranston as Walter White
Dexter --Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan
Friday Night Lights Kyle Chandler as Eric Taylor
House Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House
Lost Matthew Fox as Jack Shephard
Mad Men Jon Hamm as Don Draper
Okay, Kyle deserves it for sure. Matthew Fox, maybe. But haven’t Hugh and Jon had ENOUGH nominations here? Move over for Jensen!
****
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series
Breaking Bad Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman—don’t watch
Damages Martin Short as Leonard Winstone—don’t watch
Lost Terry O'Quinn as John Locke—HELL yeah
Lost Michael Emerson as Ben Linus—Also, HELL yeah
Mad Men John Slattery as Roger Sterling
Men Of A Certain Age Andre Braugher as Owen—don’t watch but love Andre like damn and whoa.
What do you say we kick John or Aaron or Martin out for Bobby or Cass?
****
Outstanding Drama Series
Breaking Bad
Dexter
The Good Wife
Lost
Mad Men • AMC • Lionsgate Television
True Blood
I love True Blood but was disappointed in the second season. Still, there’s a lot to be said for buzz. Which would you kick out to give Supernatural a chance?
Any place else you can see to put our favorite show?
Well, of course not really. On the show, the end was averted. And IRL, we still have months and months to go before the season premiere. Until September 24th to be exact! The CW was the first network to announce premiere dates, and unfortunately, our beloved show is the last one on the schedule.
But up in Vancouver, they're already shooting. Jim Beaver tweeted that they were beginning filming of Jensen Ackles' directorial debut on June 30. Whether that's episode 3 or episode 4 seems open to debate. Ausiello and Jim Beaver say it's ep 4, but other sources (including Jensen Ackles) said it's ep 3.
Does it really matter? :)
They're filming this episode first so Jensen can have his prep time without interference from or in the episodes that come before his. You can find details of the episode, titled "Weekend at Bobby's," here.
Is it September yet?
In other news...
Mark Pellegrino tells Fearnet (article via Digital Spy) that he would love to return to the show.
The Complete First Season of Supernatural was released on Blu-Ray (finally!) last month, so if you're a Blu-Ray user looking to complete your collection, now you can!
Spoiler TV has amalgamated some casting and behind-the-scenes spoilers about potential guest stars and the episode Jensen is directing at the beginning of the season.
Sun Valley Magazine has a article about "The Perfect Winter Wedding." The focus is on Genevieve, a Sun Valley native, but it has some beautiful photos of the wedding.
Ausiello announces the official word on Mitch Pileggi's return, with other casting news. Minor spoilery.
Going to Comic-Con? Warner Bros. announced their lineup, and the Supernatural screening and Q&A will be on Sunday, July 25, from 11:15 to 12:15. Eric, Ben, and Sera will join unnamed actors to present a sneak peak of season 5 DVD extras as well as season 6.
The CW Sourcies (fan awards) are currently being conducted. Keep track of them here and vote on Most Heartbreaking Moment, Best Villian, etc. Voting time frame for each category is short-lived, so check back often!
I spent the last week and a half of June on vacation with my best friend from college. We now live in separate states and rarely get to see each other--so how did we spend our rare and wonderful holiday together? By watching my Supernatural DVDs! I introduced her to the show the last time I saw her and she’s started watching it in syndication over the past two months. We ended up every night by popping in either an episode she’s yet to catch or one we've seen and both love. Watching episodes from every single season got me to thinking...
While Sam and Dean pretty much never get vacations, they have had a few holidays—in “A Very Supernatural Christmas” (3-8) and “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester” (4-7). Season 5’s "My Bloody Valentine" featured Cupid and even though no one was actually looking for his shadow, I think we can all agree that Mystery Spot (3-11) was Groundhog Day-esque. As we all know, season five was originally intended to be the end for Sam and Dean, which means that the writers might be scrambling for some post apocalyptic standalone story lines. My advice to them is to look to their calendars and local greeting card racks! We still have plenty of holidays with Winchester potential. For instance...
Arbor Day When local developers chop down one too many trees to level property, they anger ancient spirits. And the trees get even!
Cinco De Mayo Sam and Dean visit south Texas on the trail of El Chupacabra (and really great carne asada).
St. Patrick's Day Two words: Evil. Leprechaun.
Or, maybe now that the apocalypse has been averted, the guys should just go on holiday. Some place tropical. Where shirts are not required.
Of course, any night that I get to watch a new episode of Supernatural is a mini-holiday at my house!
