Some Outtakes From Jewel Staite Visiting Sacramento

My latest article in Whedonopolis recounts Jewel Staite's visit to the Sacramento Horror-Sci-Fi Show near Sacramento State this past weekend. As usual, she was a million laughs and more, and she should be the Greta of the Week on Chuck soon after Summer Glau has her turn.

Her recommendation of the Browncoats: Redemption DVD convinced me to get it, too. As soon as I get it, I will have my review. Until then, here's the link to get it and a t-shirt. Proceeds go to good folks, guaranteed.

Anyway, aside from the subjects that were part of my article, she also talked about how Nathan Fillion gathered as many props as he could from Firefly and Serenity (maybe he'll bring a crane to the Castle set when the show goes off the air in 2016), and basic things about how she gets into character and why she's glad there's writers. She also revealed that when she was in Space Cases, they made sure she got three hours of school each day, even with a timer. She also recommended a local restaurant called Ella, near the Convention Center.

Enough of that, though. Plenty of people went to the con to see her, and show their love for her. Take these girls who showed the two sides of Kaylee...





I got one of her action figures from Stargate Atlantis signed by her. She may have wished there was a Kaylee figure, but if she went to one of the booths, she would have seen this...



Mal really looks too chunky, and reminds me of former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney for some reason. The Kaylee figure looks fine, especially with the parasol.

Overall, the event reminded me of SuperCon in San Jose from a couple of years ago, which had Joel Hodgson and Jorge Garcia, which are big deals. Crowd wasn't big, but it was a great opportunity to get a picture of me with Jewel. Billy Dee Williams also drew a big crowd of Star Wars. He didn't have a panel of his own, but he should have.

So, the next big thing will be the Creation Con at LAX in six weeks, where I REALLY want to see Eliza Dushku up close. Aside from Dollhouse, she may talk about her boyfriend Rick Fox and his chances of winning Dancing With the Stars. It's more than just Sci-Fi.
I also hope to talk to the people who produced Browncoats: Redemption, especially since I will get to see the movie beforehand. If Jewel bought a copy, it must be good.

Whedon Alumni Among the Busiest

Recently a familiar face just joined Mad Men.
A guy named Danny was just hired by Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, even though all he had was one concept for several products..and he's a cousin of Roger's wife, Jane.
If he looked familiar, he's actually Danny Strong, who was Johnathan on Buffy and also a very good TV screenwriter. He was the guy who wrote Recount, about the 2000 presidential election.

Then I was thinking a lot of the old cast members of the Whedonverse are still quite busy. Look at the cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Sarah Michelle Gellar is currently enjoying motherhood, as shown in this picture....



Fans, though, hope she will be back soon.
Many cast members are enjoying TV success. Alyson Hannigan is on How I Met Your Mother, David Boreanaz with Bones, Nicholas Brendon makes occasional appearances on Criminal Minds, and James Marsters is poised to be back on Smallville and Caprica (if that gets more episodes. He'll also play a big role in the premiere of Hawaii Five-0, and maybe more after that. Charisma Carpenter has recently been spotted in The Expendables, and has a couple of movies in the works. Amber Benson is a successful author, and co-directed the office/alien invasion movie Drones. Michelle Trachtenberg was a regular on Mercy, but has also been wreaking havoc on Gossip Girl, and will do even more havoc soon.

The crew of Firefly has also done pretty well in the biz. Nathan Fillion, of course, is set to solve crimes and flirt at a cop (even if she has a gun) on Castle for another year. Adam Baldwin is also back as Casey on Chuck, and Morena Baccarin will be back as a very scary alien queen on V. Alan Tudyk has been in movies, including 3:10 to Yuma, but made a heck of an impression as Alpha on Dollhouse (which is one good reason why you should get the season 2 DVD next month). Jewel Staite and Sean Maher recently guest starred on Warehouse 13. She was also on Stargate Atlantis, and I have an action figure of her from that show. Maher just landed a gig on ABC Family's gymnastics show Make It or Break It.
Ron Glass, who played Book, was recently in the U-S version of Death at a Funeral. That's ironic, since Tudyk was in the original as the guy who took one wild drug accidentally. We'll hear more from him when we read The Shepherd's Tale from Dark Horse this fall.
Gina Torres, who played Zoe, is part of the cast of ABC Family's Huge, where she's a counselor at a weight-reduction camp.
Summer Glau has been seen as a Terminator and a wounded computer genius on Dollhouse. Now, she'll be a two-fisted muckraking blogger on The Cape.

As for Angel, Christian Kane is still a big part of the caper drama Leverage. Amy Acker was a regular on Dollhouse and Happy Town. She'll be seen in Cabin in the Woods once MGM fixes its financial problems. Vincent Kartheizer, of course, is enjoying success as Pete Campbell in Mad Men. J. August Richards has been on the TNT show Raising the Bar, and was recently seen on Grey's Anatomy.

The cast of Dollhouse also has a lot of talent, and may are hoping to see more of them soon. Eliza Dushku has been a major part of the Buffyverse as Faith, and Echo in Dollhouse. She's now developing a movie on Robert Mapplethorpe. Olivia Williams was recently seen in The Ghost Writer. Who wouldn't want to see her as a female Giles in a possible Slayer spinoff?
Harry Lennix has an interesting resume. Not only was he Boyd on the show, he was also in State of Play, and even Little Britain USA is the US President. He'll soon be in Mr. Sophistication and McBett, which is Macbeth in the Caribbean.
Enver Gjokaj, if I had my way, would be the new Rollin Hand in Mission Impossible 4. He's been seen recently in Fox's Lie to Me.
Miracle Laurie, who played Maddie/Mellie/November, is part of a ukelele band, but will soon be in a sci-fi drama set in San Francisco about 160 years from now.
Fran Kranz was supposed to be in an NBC romantic comedy, but will also be part of Cabin in the Woods.
Tahmoh Penikett, already a big fan favorite in Battlestar Galactica and Dollhouse, will soon be seen in The Hostage.

The Whedonverse is filled with very talented people and actors that we're certain to see again and again.