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.

Coming This Fall..A Lot Of Whedonverse Alumni

Now that the TV season is over, and we say goodbye to three TV stales, it's time to look at the future.
Last year at this time, fans of the Whedonverse were happy a lot of the old gang were still on TV from Eliza Dushku on Dollhouse to Julie Benz in Dexter, from Alyson Hannigan in How I Met Your Mother, to Nathan Fillon on Castle. There was also the return of Morena Baccarin as the now very angry Visitor leader in V.

As for next season, many Whedonverse favorites will still be with us, and even a few coming back on movies or TV. Many of them will be coming from Firefly. Fillion and Baccarin will be back in their shows. Summer Glau is poised to return as a crusading blogger helping a vigilante known as The Cape, Sean Maher and Jewel Staite will make an appearance on Warehouse 13, Alan Tudyk will be part of Transformers 3 (but Megan Fox won't be), Adam Baldwin will be a reluctant mentor to a spy-in-training on Chuck. Even Ron Glass, aka Book, will return when we finally learn "The Shepherd's Tale" in a new book from Dark Horse.
We shouldn't forget Gina Torres, who will be a counselor in Huge, about teens at a camp for heavy teens, especially one who refuses to believe being big is bad. That will be on ABC Family later this month.

Alyson Hannigan, of course, is still with How I Met Your Mother (which hopefully will return to getting us closer to that), and David Boreanaz will be back in Bones. James Marsters, who's becoming more well-known for Caprica than he was in Buffy and Angel, may be well-known in a new version of Hawaii Five-0 as the nemesis of McGarrett. Benz, meanwhile, will soon become part of No Ordinary Family, as the mom who suddenly becomes faster than her mini-van...although the rest of the family have new skills, too.

Of course, things may change between now and the fall. Fran Kranz was supposed to be part of a new NBC sitcom but was recast after the pilot. Rest assured, though, these and other actors in the Whedonverse will make their way to our TV and movie screens soon enough.

Serenity Movie Weekend: Did She Kill Him With Her Brain?

When it comes to murder mysteries on Lifetime, there are two categories: the heroine is accused of murder, and spends the rest of the movie to clear her name; and the heroine is accused of murder, but you're not quite sure if she's innocent.

Summer Glau has played a genius girl who has been damaged by government (Serenity/Firefly) or by an accident (Dollhouse), and also a butt-kicking android protecting the future (Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles). It has been rare for her to play a typical girl. Last night, though, she got her chance in a new Lifetime Movie Network film called Deadly Honeymoon. She played Lindsay, a new bride on her honeymoon with her husband, Trevor (Chris Carmack). It looks like the couple is well-matched, but looks can be deceiving. Typical murder plot for Lifetime.
The couple meets a fellow passenger, Kim, and three Hungarians that Trevor hopes will help out in a new business he and his wife want to start. However, Trevor would rather party than be with Lindsay, and even one of the Hungarians tries to make out with her.
Then, Trevor goes missing while Lindsay is found in a daze in a hallway under the ship. Is Trevor dead? Did Lindsay do it?

Now, if Lindsay were innocent, without a doubt, the movie will center on her efforts to clear her name. Not so here. The attention also centers on a vacationing FBI agent (Zoe McLellan) who gathers the details about the couple, and the Hungarians. Meanwhile Lindsay is trying to deal with all that has happened. A scene where she talks to her parents through a laptop is heartbreaking. Summer really sells this as a girl who goes from being in a daze to total devastation.
The FBI agent starts to wonder if Lindsay is as innocent as she looks. Lindsay admits there are a few things she didn't mention, but mostly because she's scared what Trevor's family would think.
There is a later scene where Lindsay talks to the captain about what happened. I won't describe it, but it is also devastating for a different reason.
As for how everything is resolved, at least one TV critic was hoping for a more surprising ending, but I thought it made sense.
I'm hoping this movie will open up more chances for Summer to be a typical girl in romantic or dramatic situations, rather than a Terminator or wounded computer genius.
Then again, we're also crossing our fingers that NBC will add The Cape to its 2010 fall lineup. If so, she'll become a crime-fighting blogger...and that's pretty good, too.

Serenity Salute: I'm Not Obama..or Rappaport

That is one of the things Morena Baccarin made clear when she met with fans at the Serenity Salute at the Marriott LAX last weekend. I could have done this sooner, but I wanted to see all of the four V shows before commenting on that as well.
For the record, she's right...the Visitors are truly terrorists from outer space who will give us the modern equivalent of blankets loaded with smallpox, or poisoned lollipops, to take over out world. It also helps that she's completely trustworthy and will use less-than-honest ways even to her own people. That "Bliss" speech at the end of season four is pure verbal Xanax. As Morena pointed out at the event, Anna is a political figure who has a mission to protect her people, and make sure they survive. She'll be friends with the Foolish Humans until it's no longer necessary. Having a Ph. D in Predictable Human Behavior sure helps. Then it's Hamster on a Stick with Soylent Green (made from people) for everyone. As long as no one objects, even if a lot of them are Visitors, no problem. Of course, that possibility has to happen, or we have no show.

The show is also playing into fears we have about foreigners, and now the H1N1 virus. In the last episode, the Visitors planned to spread a plague disguised as flu virus. With the Visitors' injections we'll be healthy right up to the point it kills us. Clever. The writers must listen to Coast to Coast AM. I'm just guessing Anna has a boss, who prefers blowing up humans good rather than sweet talking. What will happen then? In the end, and there better be one, an FBI agent will lose a lot, especially her son, to save her world.

But back to Morena....she gave some good advice for budding actors by trusting your gut and sticking to what feels right. It has worked for her. As for her look as Anna, she says she wanted this character to look clean and perfect, but admits Inara would never have short hair.
She also talked about how she often sees her old pals from Firefly, including Jewel Staite, and how she really liked that kimono robe from "Shindig."
Then, a little speculation...why did Inara leave the Companions' Training House? She hints that Inara may have wanted to be part of a family, and that is what Serenity provided.
Back to V, they asked about how Anna would blink, and whether that was calculated. She said it was, because Anna is an alien who's hiding her lizard side for the mission. She also said it's interesting that she is now a lead character in a TV show. She tries not to think about it, but admits it's been fun. She also had great things to say about Elizabeth Mitchell (who was actually in Santa Clause 2, believe it or not). Morena also revealed that her sets are CGI. She's actually in one green screen. She also admits some of her younger relatives may be stunned by her performance, but she assures them that it's just TV.

She also talked her appearance on The View, and how she was worried. In the end, she compared it to visiting someone's living room. She also complimented Whoopi Goldberg.

Among other things, she says she's concerned about how HD is showing the actors in a more realistic light, or as she put it she'd rather be "fuzzy and beautiful". She also revealed she was in the first version of the pilot for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. She played a woman who, well, wasn't quite was she seemed. Think trans-gender. She also admitted to a little resume-padding, claiming she can do a French accent, but can't. There was also a question about Inara as a "power courtesan", such as a geisha. She says that such a role is possible in some cultures but not ours.

So, 2010 will be a great year for sci-fi fans. Lost will be back and so will V, with Morena Baccarin as the most trustworthy alien terrorist ever. Again, she's doing this to save her people. We Earthlings aren't her people. Just that simple.

Serenity Salute: Alan Tudyk and the $375 Bean Dip

It's been a week since I went to Los Angeles to use up a free Southwest ticket and see some old friends I haven't seen since the late great Flanvention. I only wish I spent more for autographs so I could talk to them. Oh well....



I also wanted to wait until I saw all the episodes of the first chapter of V, but after episode three, I thought it was time to praise Alan Tudyk, nice-guy pilot with a dark side.
After he was impressed by the types of cameras the crowd used to take pictures of him, he explained that Natahn Fillion would not make a surprise visit after he had to cancel at the last second due to his TV show, Castle. So, he brought a special guest...



Nathan's seven-layer bean dip, which would be auctioned off to the highest bidder. It would be for a good cause, "Kids Need To Read". There was some concern Nathan would find out about this, like maybe through Twitter. Whether he did or not was never revealed. Alan also had some swag that was in his apartment, and gave it away to people who could answer his brain-twisting trivia questions. They were so challenging, even he had a tough time coming up with some. Some of the swag included hats from Knocked Up, and really cool stuff from Firefly and Dollhouse. I wanted to ask him about whether Alpha will be back on Dollhouse, or what it was like to be part of the Monty Python-verse by being in Spamalot. Never got close.

He did say that he did like being on stage better than in film or TV. he also talked about how he learned Wash's fate in Serenity. He understood why it had to happen that way, but still hoped for a sequel. he also talked about his time filming A Knight's Tale, and how he enjoyed beer in Prague.
Then someone asked him what it was like being Alpha. He said it was like having 40 people inside you, and trying to keep the thoughts of most of them at bay. If you saw "Omega", that describes it quite well.
Alan also admitted he was skeptical about attending cons after Nathan and Morena did so. He was at the Flan (has it really been four years?), and he saw how big the love is for this show. he also said he wasn't able to keep any of the toy dinosaurs from the show, but someone who had worked on the show did send him one.
Then Nathan called....asking about his bean dip. What bean dip?



Oh, that bean dip.
He was complimented about how buff he looked in "Omega", while he recounted a very funny story about how he played a pedophile on CSI. The crowd got a big laugh when he recalled how the child actor who was in the scene reacted after the scene was done. Let's just say the kid was OK.

And how did the bean dip do on the auction block, when several other items were added?
$375! Not bad.
Actually, I bet in Beverly Hills, a restaurant is selling a bean dip worth 375 bucks, made from very expensive pinto beans and guacamole from Paraguay. Here, this was bean dip made with love, and for a good cause.

Serenity Salute: The New Jack Cassidy

That's what Mark Sheppard, the guy who's in every TV show these days, called himself at the Serenity Salute.
In fact, he had a tough time trying to think of which shows he never worked in. Well, there's Cold Case, but I came up with that after the weekend was over.
Still, you have to admit he's "better than", being in shows from Firefly to Medium, Leverage to White Collar and Supernatural, and even The Middleman. He really liked being in that show, especially being in the table read for the episode ABC Family never made. That happened last Summer during Comic-Con.

He also talked about how difficult kissing an old man can be. He did that in Supernatural where he played a demon, and that he'll be reprising that role soon. Still, kissing a guy...that took six hours. He also revealed he "broke" the Colt that the Winchester boys use to kill demons. It was apparently tough to fix, too.

He was also part of Battlestar Galactica, and revealed he got the job because he was able to fix a computer problem that Ron Moore had. This was also great because Mark was a big BSG fan.
He also talked about being in a first-season episode of X-Files where he played a firestarter. He even revealed that he was stunned to learn he had to actually be on fire at one point. Talk about hazard pay. Still, it was the first time a show gained viewers in reruns, and a sign that the show was on its way.

Of course, he also talk about being on Firefly, as the guy who's "better than", Badger. He hinted that maybe Badger liked River, and if the show had lasted longer we could have seen more.

Serenity Salute: Fun With Tim and Jane

Thanks to my inexperience with handling LAX, I wound up missing Adam Baldwin. I am sure he was very entertaining. However, I did come just in time for two of the best known writers who didn't write a musical about a mad scientist and a gal who slays.



Tim Minear and Jane Espenson are well-known for the scripts they make, especially for Joss Whedon. They both recently write for Dollhouse, and revealed their writing secrets to the crowd at the Marriott LAX.

For example, Jane said that she likes to write a script in order, building to the scenes that matter. Tim prefers to start with the main scenes. Both agree that writing the first scene is always the hardest. Also, she said that when she write dialogue, she sometimes makes grammatical errors, but keep them in the script. She thinks it's better to have a character speak more naturally, rather than profound speeches.
Also, when you want to write for a show, they said you should really look at how a script is put together before you put forth a spec script. They also suggest that budding writers don't write scripts that are really fan fiction.

Then the fans had their questions. One fan asked if it was easier to write "Briar Rose" and "Omega" when they knew Alan Tudyk would be the main villain. Tim said yes and that "we all have Alan Tudyk living in the castle of our minds." Jayne would have preferred Nathan Fillion, since he is Castle.

Jane was also asked what it's like to create a show, then not write for it. The show, of course, is Warehouse 13, and she only wrote the pilot. She still got the credit for creating the Syfy hit, which means a little cash her way. Tim, though, wishes he were Dick Wolf, Mr. Law and Order.

Getting back to scripts, Jane says that while she prefers character to speak even with bad grammar, she is sometimes reminded she write characters that aren't supposed to speak less-than-perfect English, like Roslin from BSG.
They also agree that cable TV is the real place to see TV shows are are good and different from the very stale network fare. They even wish Joss would give it a try. After Fox was a bit too eager to say Dollhouse wouldn't get a third season, maybe he could.

As for the future, Jane Espenson is involved in the new BSG prequel called Caprica, while Tim Minear hopes to revive the Alien Nation series. Since "V' is starting to catch on, why not a "rebuttal" to the idea of aliens coming here pretending to be friendly when they aren't?

However, if you prefer to see the whole thing, QmX has taped it for you. It's at
http://bit.ly/7GAl0T

Serenity Salute: Jewel Staite

Now that I finally have enough time to talk about how the Serenity Salute last weekend was like, I will start with this shiny gal named Jewel Staite. While she's known as Kaylee, she's been spending a lot of time at Stargate: Atlantis, and will soon be in a movie called Mothman.
First off, she actually admitted she didn't like that classic dress from "Shindig" because it was tough to get around it. We fans sure liked it, though.
She also had an update about a new house she and her husband just bought. It's the one that she claimed in Twitter that it was luring her inside. Well, it worked. Now she and her husband are making new furniture inside the place because it's too tough to movie the old stuff inside. She mentioned it had an odd staircase.
She also revealed something juicy about Morena Baccarin: she has quite the foul mouth although she looks so elegant on the show. Actually, Morena already proved that the night before. We'll get to that later. She also revealed they're planning to watch the winter finale of "V" together. Despite the way they kid each other, it's clear she and Morena are very close.

Jewel also admitted that she is not quite like Kaylee, and the character became a little more like Jewel as the show went on.
She also talked about trying to act to a "green screen". In the scene in Serenity when the crew is passing through a sea of Reaver ships, and they all had to react, she said Adam Baldwin actually breathed heavily, like a grizzly. Since Jayne is spooked by Reavers on the show, that would make sense...even if it sounds strange.

As for TV shows, and people, Jewel likes Christina Hendricks and her show, Mad Men. Jewel's also a big fan of So You Think You Can Dance, even going to tapings, Castle (for Nathan, of course), Lost, Chuck...but didn't mention Dollhouse. But she's a fan of TV!

Jewel has been on Twitter for a while, and she gets some interesting responses. Some have including comments about what she eats. She likes food, guys!
She as also asked if she could "swap bodies", she'd swap with Zoe because she's a tough character. She also had a funny story about meeting Matthew Fox from Lost, and how the big moment wasn't as big as she had hoped. Oh, and there are pictures.
On the other hand, David Hewlett from SGA was thrilled when he learned Jewel was on the show because he's a Firefly fan.

Also, she says being Kaylee has led to be being defined as a "type", but she likes to do all types of roles. Remember, she was that mean girlfriend that kept Jaye away from the guy she liked in Wonderfalls.
She also talked about having "Vegas shows", and so many shoes in general they could be found under her bed.

Finally, she hopes she'll be able to work with Joss again, as do we.

Singing the Praises of Firefly

One thing you can say about Joss Whedon shows is that they inspire a lot of music.
This is especially true of Firefly and Serenity. The Big Damn Heroes have been immortalized in song by several musicians, from the Bedlam Bards to Marian Call.
The latest group to add to the Browncoats Hit Parade is a band out of St. Louis called he Browncoats. Three of its members, and a crew member, visited the Serenity Salute recently in Los Angeles. They allowed people to sample its first CD, Space Age Loser. It also includes a DVD of its first video, a cover of "Hero of Canton" that has been popular on YouTube and MySpace. The video won an award at the Serenity Salute.

Co-Pilot Gary Miller and Air Marshall Buckley Roberts had been in an industrial rock band for years before they decided to perform songs based on Firefly. Their version of "Hero of Canton" was the first song. "We just gave the mp3 away, and just spread it to as many people as we knew," Miller said. "Later, we decided, hey, let's just do a whole album out of this and create an entire band."
They were joined by lead singer and Captain Paul Moerke, and bass player Dominic Anthony. Moerke was also a pilot, and played a big part in the music video. It premiered last September during DragonCon in Atlanta. Amy Jordan also appeared in the video, but is also a lighting engineer, and helps promote the CD.

Both Miller and Roberts admitted they were late bloomers as Firefly fans, but they were hooked when they first saw the show. "When I saw Firefly," Miller says, "I was like 'oh, my God, how could I have not seen this? How could I not know this existed?' I come to realize when we started selling this record that the majority of the people that at least know Firefly that are buying the record are also late bloomers. Bought the DVDs later on"

The band is also influenced by people close to them. "Trans-Siberian Railroad," for example, was written for Gary's wife, while "Amelia" was written for Paul's daughter.

They have done some gigs in the St. Louis area, and plan more in the next few months. Their shows are different from typical rock concerts. Their opening acts are actually comedy groups like "Clown-vis", which is Elvis as a clown, and an improv group led by Bill Cott, who appeared on Saturday Night Live.

They've also been able to give their CDs to Adam Baldwin, and Rafael and Yan Feldman. They've also using social media websites including Facebook and Twitter.
"We just want to keep the train rolling and the keep the variety up," Miller says. "We want to give people a package that doesn't just give them a rock album, gives them a lot to soak in."

They also want to do another CD next year. Before that, they plan an EP that includes bluegass versions of their songs and new songs. They also hope to make more videos, including a planned spoof of Star Wars. t will also produce a song for the "Browncoats: Redemption" fan film.

More information about the band is available at thebrowncoats.org, including links to MySpace, Twitter and iTunes.