"I'm such a bitter, sad man, and this is my bitter, sad show. Welcome to it!"

[topazera]

(Photo by the talented (and seated very close to the stage!) Ellen.
You should go check out her Flickr album, where I 'm honored to appear as the cover photo. :D)



So, I went to New York Comic Con last weekend! It was a very last-minute decision but the whole thing would have been worth it if only for the Dollhouse panel on Sunday. Now I know in this technological age, you can just go watch the whole thing on Youtube but I'm still posting a cobbled together version of my furiously scribbled notes and misremembered stories I have from that day. It pretty much went down like this, except a whole lot wittier. And more coherent. And longer.

BUT FIRST, highlights!

1. The Dollhouse panel, obviously.
2. Cosplaying! It's been so long! Okay, I cosplayed at Otakon last summer but it was great to find an excuse to carry around the Kaylee parasol. Damn, do I love that prop! Actually, I only put together a Kaylee costume because I'd already made the parasol.


(Photo by awesome cosplayer LJinto, totally making me look good,)
3. Meeting people. It was lovely to stand next to such friendly, fun people on line for the Dollhouse panel. It really made the three hours fly by. And I didn't know it at the time, but I had my picture taken by a friend of a friend! (Hi Ellen!) It's a small, small, geeky world at conventions. This is the second time that a connection formed between my group of high-school friends and Meg's high-school friends completely coincidentially. Oh, cons.
4. I met Amber Benson! And Adam Busch's mom, who was keeping her company. Oh man, this is why you should always wander the halls as the convention is winding down. Now if only I had stumbled upon Joss, like certain other people I met...


(It's Amber Benson and some flustered girl!)

Now, onto the Joss and Tahmoh show:

Joss: I'm such a bitter, sad man, and this is my bitter, sad show. Welcome to it! (On Dollhouse being darker and more disturbing than any of his previous offerings.)

Joss: Did somebody just say 'fuck you'? (Whispered as the lights went down. ...She really yelled "I LOVE YOU".)

J: We're not showing Tahmoh's intro. He's shirtless, of course, because I'm shameless.

J: "The Dollhouse doesn't seem very well run. Why is there always something going wrong?" Um, so we can have a show? Why do people always get murdered around Angela Lansbury?

J: People who know me will not be surprised to hear there's some of me in Topher. He creates characters... and has no morals. (laughs) We may have something in common.

Tahmoh told cute stories about BSG. Like when he asked Jamie if he was keeping his flight suit, and he just replied "I'm taking it. Are you taking it?" Basically all the pilots just decided to take their stuff. And how during the miniseries, Tahmoh was just honored to be part of a project with Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell as leads. But even though he was getting really good feedback, he got added into a few others scenes including the gambling scene and Eddie even came up to him and sad "The producers really like your stuff. I think they're going to bring you back.", he was doing the whole thing thinking "Well, I'm dead."

J: (to Tahmoh) Why did you let Baltar take your spot?!
(and later)
T: I want to find out why Paul is so mistrusting.
J: He let Baltar on the plane!

T: If you want to know what's going on, ask wardrobe. It was Shawna, she told me Joss was writing a boxing scene "...but don't tell him I told you!" So I went to Joss and ask him if it could be Muay Thai.
J: And I said, "Sure, I'll have the Pad Thai."
T: Could I make it more eight-limbed and throw some knees and legs? (He goes on to talk about how he was able to help choreograph the scene. How hot is that? When he if he's any good, he was very self-effacing "Well, I've been practicing for a few years..." <3)

J: All shows go through a difficult birthing process. It wasn't unusually difficult but it was difficult in an unusual way. With Firefly, all the trouble was external. I knew exactly the story I was telling. With Dollhouse, there's so many ways to go about it that I lost the show for a while. There was definitely a dark Joss period. Dark in that, I took it out on my friends and assistant. A lot of There isn't going to be any show!

J: I am very pathetic and desperate in my need for the audiences' love. Not that I need them to love me, but in that I need them to love the work. (speaking about how difficult it can be to go places in Dollhouse that he already knows will get a mixed reaction)

Q: Tahmoh, we've heard about Eliza's breakfast with Joss. Did you then have a simliar dinner with Joss?
T: No, he called me. Actually, I had to call him. From Canada! (Cute banter about them actually going out to dinner the night before)

J: I tend to speechify. Aaron Sorkin and I should write a drama. (YES.)

Q: Would you like to do some sort of animated project in the future?
Joss spoke enthusiastically about how much he loves animated projects and with today's technology, it's possible to do something that looks great independently for a tenth of the price of a big studio animated feature. His punchline was "Most of the animation I watch now is Final Fantasy cut scenes set to Evanesce on YouTube." (LMAO! Oh, Joss.)

Q: When are we going to see Angel in season 8 of Buffy?
J: Probably when it's the most painful. And when Georges Jeanty learns to draw him. He keeps telling me "I just can't figure it out, there's so much forehead!"

Q: What genre do you want to do and what themes do you want to explore in that genre?
J: Well, for a long time, I wanted to do a Western. Then we did a day in the desert (while shooting Dollhouse) and I said "I think I'm over it" (laughs) The theme I'd like to explore is air-conditioning.
J: Actually, I'd really really love to do a frilly costume drama.
Probably Elizabethan, those were some smoking dresses, or end of the 19th century. Costume dramas, as fans of the genre know, are closely related to sci-fi in that no one knows what that world was like, you get to imagine everything. It has that same sort of excitement. Also, heh, pretty dresses.

Q: Will there be a musical episode and Tahmoh, if there is, can you sing?
T: I can't sing, at all. Like many people, I try in my shower. But no.
J: I see you more expressing yourself through your agility. Using your Muay Thai to Footloose, angry dance. (!!!)

Q: Before the Wonder Woman screening, there was an introduction by Nathan Fillion where he mentioned working on "Serenity 2" and then there was ten seconds of silence...
J: (hangs heads) He's got to stop doing that to people!
Q: I was wondering if you could punish him by bringing him onto second season Dollhouse and then immediately killing him.
J: I don't have to wait for TV to do that. (beat) I think I speak for everyone here when I say Nathan's a cock. (uproarious laughter and applause!)

J: As my wife articulated, as usual much more clearly than I do, "Locations are the new special effects. I think we were watching Slumdog at the time. Putting in real places is the most exciting thing you can do. It used to be "We can put anything on screen!" ...And then we get Van Helsing.

Q: What do you think it is about yourself that inspires not only such a rabid fan following, but also a group of actors that seem like they would follow you anywhere? (We think you're a genius.)
Tahmoh: (makes hilarious hand gesture to indicate the swelling of Joss's head)
Joss jokingly blusters about being a genius then goes on to say that he thinks his one real skill is collaboration. He thinks he's good to making sure people find their best take and delivery and really service the script.