Monday, March 17, 2008

Stupid Thing . . . or not

17 March 2008

So, I went to a convention the other day and they had a--

No, that's not the Stupid Thing. Jeez, give me a chance here.

They had a panel for the NBC series "Heroes," just like they did last year. In 2007, there was a lot of interesting discussion about the show (which was a hit new show at the time) that I was able to spread around to all those I pretend are my friends.

This year, however, because of the writers' strike, they had absolutely nothing to talk about. It was shocking, really, how little content was placed before the rather large assemblage of fans. They were excited to get back to work on the show (which is coming back in September with a "healthy dose of episodes"), but the panel just wouldn't answer any questions about "Heroes" storylines or plans or changes or ideas or anything of any relevance.

They didn't have any clips or any real news to share. So, there ended up being time at the end there wouldn't have been with a normal panel. They just opened it up to the audience for questions.

Milo Ventimiglia, who plays Peter Petrelli, was on the panel (and have you ever noticed that he is always referred to as "Peter Petrelli," never just as "Peter" or "Pete?"), and he seemed like a really nice guy, talking about how there's always an a-hole on every set, and since he couldn't think of anyone in the production who fit that bill, it was probably him.


I didn't take a lot of pictures, and the few I got turned out really dark, like a Tim Burton film festival during a power outage.

Beta Ray Charles went to the panel with me, and at one point suggested a question for me to ask Milo. It was wholly inappropriate, and while I laughed, I wasn't about to actually ask it.*

But again, it's really disappointing that there was so little to talk about at the panel, at least not without hearing, "I hate to say it again, but we're not able to talk about that." Even the questions from the audience trickled into nothing but coughs, whispers, and cellphones going off.

The moderator said, "Are there any more questions for Milo Ventimiglia?"

Beta Ray nudged me, but I just couldn't ask it. I chickened out . . . or you could say that good taste won out in the end. But afterward, I wondered what the response might have been, and if it might not have produced, at the very least, an amusing story to tell.

So, the panel ended and we went our separate ways, and I never got to ask Milo, "Yeah, I've got a question: what's it like to nail the cheerleader?"

Rish Mister Self-Restraint Outfield

*Which reminds me of another story, where something similar happened to me, quite hilariously. I'm not going to relate it here, I was just reminded of it.

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