PhxCC 2012: Hollywood came to Ballroom 120 on Saturday

By far the biggest room of Phoenix ComiCon, Ballroom 120 had people lined up a couple hours before panels were set to begin on Saturday. There were some very recognizable names from the geek world coming to the event and fans did not want to miss an chance to hear what these guests had to say. Starting off the day was the Starship Troopers panel with stars Dina Meyer and Casper Van Dien, followed by the William Shatner hour and finished of by cast members of SyFy channel’s Eureka. Each panel made the crowd laugh even harder than the last and at a couple points even cause a few tears to be shed. Overall, it was an experience hard to find at any other comic convention.

 

Starship Troopers is celebrating 15 years since being released this year and the cast has been making appearances at events around the country. Casper Van Dien and Dina Meyer talked about seeing some of the cast again, the fun they had making the film, and even shared thoughts on the remake of the story. Dina Meyer shared her experience with filming the famous naked shower scene and how she even talked the director into stripping down to help ease the inhibitions of the cast for the scene. Casper Van Dien talked about the various locations that they filmed the movie at and the collection of toys and other memorabilia he has back at home. Both stars admitted to being appreciative of fans that still scream quotes from the film at them all these years later; “If I don’t like having lines being screamed at me by fans, then I am in the wrong business,” Van Dien said. When asked about their interest or involvement in the upcoming remake of Starship Troopers both were very supportive and would be up for a cameo if asked. The panel was filled with stories and quick witted answers that made the audience laugh out loud as both the cast members and the fans relived the awesomeness that is the original Starship Troopers movie.

Dina Meyer & Casper Van Dien

William Shatner

In 2011, Leonard Nimoy appeared at Phoenix ComiCon and gave an autobiographical slideshow presentation to the crowds. So when Captain Kirk was announced to be attending the 2012 convention fans were expecting another great treat. The first thing William Shatner did when he came out on stage was to grab a wireless microphone and come around to the front of the stage and share how much he doesn’t like standing at podiums. For the next hour he walked between the two sides of the stage to answer questions at the audience’s microphone stations. Shatner asked at the start what the audience wanted to hear him talk about and sure enough Star Trek was not the consensus. Questions ranged from his shows Raw Nerve and Boston Legal, to pranks on set and even about his personal daily routines. Shatner talked about how he loved to have “real” conversations with people. “Not what baseball team do you like, but why do you like baseball” kind of discussions and that was the set up for his show Raw Nerve. And he seemed to be having the same sort of set up with the panel. His answers were real and “mostly truthful to best of my knowledge” as he put it. At one point he had the audience laughing about the time he and Nimoy were pranking each other on the set of Star Trek to get to lunch faster and then he switched gears and talked about the love for his family dog. At one point bringing many people to tears as he talked about his sick dog at home and how losing a family pet is like losing a part of your soul. Had there not been a panel following Shatner, he probably could have kept on going; he seemed to be enjoying the panel as much as the attendees.

Cast of Eureka

The third and final “big” panel of the day featured Jaime Paglia (show creator) and castmembers Craig Ferguson, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Wil Wheaton and Debrah Farentino from the show Eureka on the SyFy channel. Ferguson and Wheaton had to rub the L.A. Kings’ recent NHL Playoff victory in the faces of Phoenicians as they came out on stage, earning laughs and boos for their welcome. The panel had a slightly somber tone because the show is in middle of its final season. Most questions were about memories of the show and what were the coolest gadgets on the show. All of the cast echoed Wil Wheaton in talking about how the cast and crew of Eureka have a unique family like feel on set that is unmatched elsewhere in their Hollywood experiences. Colin Ferguson (with Paglia’s nod of approval) shared that someone from the past will be coming back to help the citizens of Eureka leading up to the series finale. That was the only bit of information shared about the currently airing episodes. Talk of what might happen next for Eurekans is still up in the air, “lots of ideas are out there but nothing is set in stone…” Paglia said. Despite the ending of the series, the panel still managed to make laughs and embrace the geekiness and fun that the show has become incredibly popular for.

To sum it up, Saturday in Ballroom 120 was a barrel of laughs at Phoenix ComiCon 2012. The panel guests were very happy to be there and did their best to get to as many questions as possible. No one can say they left that panel room disappointed that day. With this year’s awesome set of programming in Ballroom 120, the question left on most minds is “how will Phoenix ComiCon top it in 2013?”

By Martin Bright (@KryptoKid509)