Fireside Chats from Hollywood

It's 1:30 am and I need to go to bed, but I wanted to tell you about a rare treat Comic-Con fans had tonight. Stargate: Continuum was premiered on the flight deck of the USS Midway aircraft carrier which is docked at the harbor and is a museum.

It was way cool to walk among planes on the flight deck and I wanted to share pics with you, but the photos from the camera are too big and I don't have time or energy to downsize them.

A group of Comic Con fans were able to attend this special screening with cast and crew. Wooden portable chairs were set up on the flight deck. The film was shown on a screen which hung like a curtain. This is just like how the crew of aircraft carriers see movies and special events. Did I say this was way cool?

I think that everyone was there. Richard Dean Anderson was sitting three rows in front of me, flanked by Bob Picardo and Amanda Tapping and her husband. Michael Shanks was flanked by wife Lexa Doig and Cliff Simon in the row in front of RDA. Chris Judge who came just in the nick of time, sat in the row behind RDA. Beau Bridges was sitting nearby. I didn't see Ben Browder until the screening was over, but there were a lot of people who worked on the movie there.

After all, how often do we civilians get to watch a movie on a real aircraft carrier?

In fact, Martin Wood expressed regret to me that the press interviews on the red carpet had taken so long, because he wanted to explore the planes up there.

It was a great way to see the film and a rare special treat. And I want to thank those who made it possible.

Okay, I love ships and planes, but did I say how cool this was?

For Torchwood and Doctor Who fans attending this year's San Diego Comic Con, I'm sure you know about the two panels on Thursday.

But what I haven't seen announced anywhere is that Holzheimer's Distribution, which you see selling photos and other TV collectibles at various cons, has brought over from the UK John Barrowman (Captain Jack) and Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto) to Comic Con so that fans can meet and get autographs from them. They will be signing at the Holzheimer's booth #3845. Both will be signing on Thursday and Friday. Gareth should be there the whole con.

Since it is Mary Lee Holzheimer who is bringing the boys over and not the BBC, she has arranged the schedule so John and Gareth can participate in the Torchwood panel.

Mary Lee regrets that she cannot offer the autographs for free, but she has made them as inexpensive as possible so hopefully all fans who want autographs can afford to get them. Having brought actors over from the UK for conventions years ago, I can testify that it isn't cheap to do so.

If you want to get the autograph, you have to go to booth #3845 and purchase a basic ticket for $26 (gives you photograph to get autographed, although I'm going to substitute his autobiography Anything Goes and get that signed instead of the photo - can't wait.)

This ticket will give you the time and place to come back for the signing. The latter is for crowd control because there will be over 100,000 at the convention and sometimes the dealer's room feels like sardines packed in a can. Prices will vary from $26 for the basic photo and autograph to $60 for limited edition art work.

Just writing this is getting me excited.

The bad news is that if you don't already have your membership to the Con itself, most likely you won't be able to attend. Four day passes are already sold out, so is Friday and Saturday. I thought Thursday (when the DW and TW panels are) was sold out too, but apparently there are a few tickets left.

However, be aware that if you aren't local, there is also the housing problem (and parking). With over 100,000 people coming these last few years, hotel rooms book out in February and March, so make sure you have a place to stay before you come.

For those fans who can't attend Comic Con and want to participate in this rare opportunity to get an autograph picture from John or Gareth or both (there's a great picture of their steamy kiss available on the website to buy), Mary Lee has made pre-orders available through the Holzheimer website. Check out the direct link:

http://marketplaceadvisor.channeladvisor.com/storefrontprofiles/deluxeSFshop.aspx?sid=1&sfid=100514&c=862610

Which is for people who can't attend or don't want to wait in line. (But I can't imagine anybody attending the con and not wanting to meet the guys as they sign for you.)

Anyway, I just wanted to alert those who are interested to this happening. I'm not affiliated in any way with Holzheimer's Distribution, except as one of those fans who is going to be in line for autographs. I just know that I would appreciate somebody sharing info like this with me, because otherwise, I wouldn't probably know about it until I stumbled onto the booth to say hi to my friends who'd be working there.

And if you do see me wandering around the con, be sure to come up and say hi.

Even though the Jericho billboard is still up in my neighborhood, I thought it was time to segue into something that is equally important to that show and more important to our real lives: Independence Day, July 4th.

In preparing this post, I was trying to think of movies and TV shows that I love about this day. My addled brain can only think of one movie: Born on the Fourth of July, the Oliver Stone movie starring Tom Cruise.

As for TV shows, my addled brain can only think of one, too. In the Eighties and Nineties, Disney Channel reran a series about the Revolutionary War that made its debut in the early sixties on The Wonderful World of Disney. It was called Swamp Fox and starred Leslie Nielsen as Colonel Francis Marion, who became like an American Robin Hood, fighting the British in guerrilla style.

Disney has put out 3 of the 8 episodes on a DVD. Considering that there are 39 comments on Amazon for this series, all of which berating Disney for not putting out the rest, I'm surprised they don't put the rest out. But it is Disney, the only studio that releases its content for a short period of time and then hides it back in its vaults.

But I can still sing part of the theme song:
Swamp Fox, Swamp Fox,
Tail on his Hat,
Nobody knows
Where the Swamp Fox's at...

In honor of July 4th and because we should be really thinking about what it stands for, I thought I'd reprint here something I wrote several years ago for a publication that has long gone out of existence and whose name I can't remember. In 2006, I posted it on my CAT Scratchings blog, and since that time, I've been surprised at the number of hits it gets from around the world. The only post that gets more is one on Star Wars and meeting George Lucas. Go figure.

All I can think of is that every kid that has to write an assignment about The War for Independence, The Revolutionary War, and July 4th googles it.

At the bottom, I have some trivia listed. I'd welcome other trivia bits from you guys... I know there's another name that the Brits call our Revolutionary War besides the one listed, but I'm drawing a blank.

Enjoy... and have a great July 4th holiday:


Independence Day - July 4th

We celebrate July 4th with days off work, family visits, barbecues and fireworks. But how many of us take the time to reflect what Independence Day is all about? That the day commemorates a revolt by citizens against their lawful government because they felt that government didn't represent them or their best interests, echoing a cry of "no taxation without representation."

At the time, the 13 American entities were colonies of Great Britain, but there was growing unrest because the colonies had no seat in the British Parliament and hence, no say in their fates.

In 1774, the 13 colonies sent delegates to Philadelphia to create the First Continental Congress, but they were not ready to declare war.

The inevitable clash came in April 1775, when the extra troops the King sent to control rebellion fought with colonists in Concord, Massachusetts. This became the unofficial beginning of the colonies' war for independence and was made famous by Longfellow's poem, "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere."

A Second Continental Congress was convened, which then appointed a committee of five to write a declaration of their intentions to seek their independence. Thomas Jefferson was chosen to write the first draft. The resolution to make the United Colonies free and independent States and cut the bonds of allegiance to the British Crown was passed by Congress on July 2nd, but only nine of the thirteen colonies said yes. Pennsylvania and South Carolina said no, Delaware was undecided and New York abstained.

However, when the Declaration of Independence was voted into acceptance and signed on July 4th, twelve of the thirteen signed the document. Delegates from New York weren't empowered to sign until July 7th, and the document wasn't finalized and disseminated until August.

But July 4th, 1776 was chosen to commemorate the Colonies independence and formation of their own nation because it was the day they declared their intentions and put their lives on the line.

It's important to note that every one of the 56 men who signed the document was putting his life on the line for his belief in independence, self-determination, and freedom.

Essentially, they were committing treason against their lawful government. Five were captured and hanged. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Nine died in the Revolutionary War which ensued. All were well-educated, men of means, but most saw their properties and possessions confiscated, looted or destroyed. Many of them gave everything to the cause and died in poverty.

It is important to remember today what they taught us with their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor: that freedom and independence is never free… it comes with a price tag.

And like those who fought and won the American War for Independence, we have people today who are willing to pay that price so that the rest of us can have our days off, visit with our families, barbecue, and shoot off fireworks.

Interesting trivia:

Did you know… when the Declaration of Independence declared 'all men are created equal', it meant all white men with property only -- no blacks, or women?

Did you know… that both the North and the South used the Declaration of Independence to justify their positions in the Civil War?

Did you know… that many Brits call our "Independence Day" "Thanksgiving Day"?

Did you know… that pyrotechnics started in China with the invention of gunpowder?

Did you know… that Nat Turner's rebellion was originally planned for July 4, 1831?

Did you know… that the Declaration of Independence is not legally binding?

And a personal bit of trivia, the midnight ride of Paul Revere occurs on my birthday -- the day, not the year.

And finally...

I want to dedicate this blog entry to the late Don S. Davis, for he, too, served his country in the Armed Forces, as well as touched our hearts with his acting and his wonderful caring personality. We are so going to miss you, Don, forever.

On the corner of Ventura and Vineland, not that far from NBC Universal and CBS Radford, relatively speaking, is this towering billboard that attracted my attention.

One is used to seeing For Sale signs all over the place, but on a billboard? Needless to say, it attracted my attention immediately. "TV Show for Sale" it said on its white plaque and on the board holding the plaque up, it said "Network Needed, Fans Will Follow" or something like that, I'm quoting from memory. The rest of the billboard had Jericho in big letters and a blurb about 6 million fans needing a new home.

You guys did good. It's a great billboard and easily attracts attention. I hope it works, because I like that show, too.

I first became aware of Skeet Ulrich in one of my all time favorite movies, As Good As It Gets, where he had a small, kind of a bad guy role. And I admit I noticed him more because he looked so much like Johnny Depp, I just went, who is this guy? In Miracles, he was an added pleasure, but I was really watching the show for Angus MacFadyen.

Then Skeet did The Magic of Ordinary Days and Into the West and I was blown away. After that I was watching Skeet for Skeet.

I hope these billboards work, because like you, I feel the show ended way too soon. But if it had to end, the writers, directors, and actors did a great job ending it. The heroes accomplished their goal, they won, and yet the door was open for more episodes, because the battle to reclaim the country was just beginning. It's a great ending, unlike, in my opinion, the dreadful and disappointing ending to Stargate SG-1 and Ally McBeal, to name a couple.

I saw the cliffhanger ending they were planning as a season ending on You Tube and even that they did right. I hate cliffhangers, I think they are useless. No cliffhanger in the world will get me to watch a show I don't like or haven't watched. I think the only one that really worked was the 'who killed JR?' one and that was because it was the first.

And if I like a show and have invested watching in it all season, I don't need a cliffhanger to bring me back. Take Boston Legal, I love their endings... "See you next season" or "See you next year" the two main stars toast each other... and they always do see me the next season/year.

Chances are, I'm not going to remember the cliffhanger ending over the months of watching something else in its stead anyway.

But back to what Jericho did right. It wasn't that much of a cliffhanger because once again the heroes achieved their objective, which pleases me no end. The cliffhanger was Hawkins getting caught and Jake saying, I'm going back for him. Are you coming? For me, that could have easily been the series ender as well, for it isn't that much of a nail-biter. Why? Because as soon as Jake said he was going back for Hawkins, I knew the hellhounds of the Underworld couldn't stop that rescue. I didn't need to see it happen.

But I'd like to. I'd also like to see them take back the country. So I hope this billboard and the others like it do the trick. Because this show is written right. This show is written well. And then it is acted brilliantly.

So my hat's off to you, Jericho fans, for your second campaign. It's as noticeable as the first, even if you can't eat billboards.

Father's Day is upon us and I've been watching a Home Depot ad which I've been finding disturbing. There's nothing bad about the ad and I myself shop at Home Depot for household needs, even my plant needs for my balcony. But every time I see it, I find it unsettling and I finally figured out why. In doing its job, the ad makes me feel like it's saying that all dads want power tools, and are into building and repairing, even if they are doing it as a hobby, like it's built into their DNA.

And it makes me wonder how true it is for today's man. Now I know that my best friend's husband and sons' eyes would light up at the sight of a new power tool and I often give them gift cards to Home Depot as presents and watch them smile. On the other hand, I once gave wrenches as part of the Christmas gift to my ex and his face fell. I don't think he ever forgave me for those, even though that was only one of several presents I gave him that year and I wound up being the one using them. And my Dad would have been fairly useless trying to build anything.

We're in a world with male secretaries, male nurses, male writers, males in all sorts of fields that aren't physical labor -- do they all secretly yearn to build cabinets for the house so they can lean back and say with pride, I made this myself?

Once upon a time, the zeitgeist of our country did suggest man = dad = head of household = builder = carpenter = repairman and woman = mother = decorator of the house dad builds or shellacker of the wood cabinet dad builds. And I'm wondering if we still subtly see men that way.

Nowadays, with the feminist movement having done so much, a girl is taught she can do anything or be anything. But what about our boys?

And if we aren't being told how dad will love the power tools, it is how dad will love the big screen TV so he can watch his sports and how-to-repair programs.

I know that product ads are just there to sell the products as successfully as they can, but it makes me wonder if we've come any distance at all from when I bought my first VCR and was told how sweet I was to buy my husband something that would enable him to not miss any of the Superbowl games. The salespeople just couldn't wrap their minds around the idea that I was buying it for me... to record Star Trek on. Course, who knew that today you'd be able to buy them all uncut on DVD.

So I'm curious, guys and girls, what kinds of things do you see yourself buying your dads, husbands, and boyfriends for Father's Day? And what kind of things do you expect to get from your wives, daughters, and girl friends for Father's Day? And what kind of things would really make your eyes light up?

Tomorrow we will gather together with family for picnics and barbecues because it is a National Holiday that so many have off from work.

But more importantly, it is a time to honor and remember the men and women who died to make it possible for our picnics and barbecues... and those men and women who are offering up their sweat and blood so that their families, friends, coworkers, countrymen and countrywomen, and even strangers can have those carefree barbecues, picnics and baseball games.

I'm not talking whether a war is just or not or should be happening or not. That is a political matter for which we are all responsible, wherever we are. I'm talking about honoring those men and women who shed blood and those who have given their lives for home whether they believe in what they are doing or not.

Too often, wounded and shell-shocked veterans come home to neglect and an uncaring populace. Too often, caskets are returned to broken-hearted families in communities that show little concern beyond lip service and flying flags. It breaks my heart to see this.

But since this is a place for talking TV and Film, let's talk about something else that breaks my heart... how little support is given to TV shows and Movies that demonstrate what soldiers and wars are really all about. It seems too much like we're a nation that doesn't care.

It broke my heart when I was in the theater watching the excellent Stop Loss to see only 5 other pairs there. Granted that the movie had been out for a while, but it hasn't had much of a box-office and yet it is about all of us allowing our young soldiers to become indentured servants and slaves because we don't want to be drafted and we have ignored doing something about the war that requires more and more soldiers as fodder. I felt like I was watching the death throes of my beloved democracy, falling apart from within.

Then there was the excellent FX series Over There, which so very few people watched. It wasn't fun to watch -- it was unsettling -- death was horrific on it, not pretty like so many of the shows we love to watch. But it shows you the sacrifices we are asking our men and women to make that result in them coming back wounded in body and mind or in caskets and body bags.

We Were Soldiers has an unforgettable scene in which the army wives see the taxi pull up with the officers who bear the death notices and pray that they aren't coming to their house, knowing that in doing so, they are hoping misery falls on one of their friends. There is also Flags of our Fathers that reminds of how Native Americans fought for an America that summarily dismissed and rejected them and their sacrifice as soon as it finished using them and Windtalkers where Navajo Native Americans were willing to use their native language to provide an unbreakable code only to be paid back by a nation who considered the code-talkers so important that it was willing to slaughter the human beings doing it rather than allow them to fall into enemy hands and maybe lose a near-unbreakable code.

These are just the projects I can think of off the top of my head that give you a good idea of what war is all about and the sacrifices our fine young men and women make for us. I'm sure you guys can think of more.

If you'd rather have something documentary, rather than fiction, I suggest, Operation Homecoming: Writing the War Time Experience in which actors (including Beau Bridges, Justin Kirk, Josh Lucas, and Christopher Gorham) read pieces written by actual soldiers on active duty.

So this Memorial Day, take time out to honor and remember the fallen. And then take time out to honor them again by giving over your TV time to something that will help you understand what their sacrifice was about. For having a clear picture of what it is all about is the only way to think twice about sending men and women off to more wars.

For whether we oppose war or support war, we are all politically responsible for having it and asking our young men and women to fight and die for it. I don't want to see what happened after the Viet Nam War occur again: where when we finally managed to end that war, we treated our returning Veterans like pariahs. They deserve so much better from us.

Last night I attended a screening of Ghost Whisperer at the Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills because the cast and crew were going to be there and I wanted to say hello.

Mainly, I wanted to say hello to the showrunners, and I wanted to say hello to Camryn Manheim, whom I've met several times over the years at various events. (At one of those events, I was minder/escort/bodyguard, you know the person who stays with the guest to walk her or him through the halls from room to room. Something that is so standard and minimal in contact that it wouldn't be memorable to her. But it was to me because I had admired her then, her The Practice years, and obviously, now as well.)

This was their relaunch of the show after the Writers Strike and their big news was that they were adding a 'hottie' to the show. They made a big deal of this and I must admit that my first thoughts were 'huh?' 'who?'

They, of course, were talking about Christoff Sanders, their new older Ned Banks. With the relaunch, I guess they figured they could jump his age some years to bring in more of the teen crowd.

And I must be feeling my age, because I was thinking, as I watched the Season Return, 'cute kid,' not 'hottie.' Have to admit, I'm just fine with David Conrad as my 'hottie' on the show.

Aside from bringing in the teenage crowd, Ned will apparently be more involved in the ghost storylines and they were a bit squeamish about doing that with a 13-year old, Camryn revealed. It is so obvious from the teasing that she is fond of the young actor who plays her son. Between the praise from her and the showrunners, he was blushing quite a bit.

Bob Nuchow, the producer of the screening series for the theater, said that Camryn is his cousin and he's been trying to get Ghost Whisperer to screen some of their episodes for years and finally it came together with this relaunch.

The funny thing is that even though I knew I was attending the season's return, I didn't equate that with the episode being shown on Friday night. Since we had gone to see Jared Leto's new movie, Chapter 27, because Jared was coming to do a Q&A with us after the movie, I taped the episode.

And I made sure I watched it Saturday morning so I wouldn't be the only one there who hadn't seen it. Duh... sometimes the brain has just left the body. Nevertheless, it was pretty cool seeing it up on the big screen and in some places, it was so cool-looking that it felt like I was seeing it for the first time.

The episode is called "Home But Not Alone" and starts out with a frazzled Delia who is trying to cope with her son Ned being out on his first date. Ned, however, is being whumped by a parental ghost who is far less fond of the young couple dating than Delia is. Ned solicits Melinda's help in figuring out who is haunting the three siblings and why. This is a story guaranteed to tear your heart out, but leave you smiling in joy. (Which is the trademark of the series. In fact, in answer to a question about what goes on in the writers room, they answered that when they are crying, they know they have a good story to present.)

The entire main cast was there, except for Jennifer Love Hewitt and Jay Mohr. I thought it was nice that whenever anyone referred to JLH, they called her 'Love' -- has to be the best kind of utilizing one's name as a nickname.

Showrunners Kim Moses and Ian Sander were there, as well as one of the writers of "Home But Not Alone" episode, Laurie McCarthy (she shares credit with headwriter, P.K. Simonds.) The line producer, Barbara Black was there along with one of the editors. James Van Spraag, their ghost expert, got a lot of questions during the Q&A.

Production designer Mayling Cheng talked about how much fun it was to create the whole older city under Grand View. Someone in the audience popped up and said this is real, because there are three layers of city in Barcelona. Mayling remarked that you didn't have to go that far from home, which I silently agreed with, since I'm using the Seattle one in a spec script of mine.

I walked into the theater with the costume designer, so I got to tell her how wonderfully she dresses everyone on the show. She of course remarked that she had a beautiful cast to design for.

David Conrad was the moderator and he did a great job coming up with interesting questions for each person on stage. He was given a seat at the end, so that as moderator he wouldn't have his back to any of the guests at any time. But he soon jumped up and stood off to the side facing them. The next thing I knew, he was in the audience in the aisle asking the questions.

That made him strategically placed to hand the microphone over to audience members when the audience participation part of the Q&A commenced. I've never been to a Q&A where a star of a show ran the microphone around the audience and handed it off to people. That really says something lovely about David Conrad.

I only remember a few more remarks from the Q&A... if I think of anything else, I'll put it in the comments section. Apparently, there have been ghosts on the set, but not attached to any one person and ghostly things have happened. And ghosts showing up on the film.

Kim told a wonderful story about the pilot when they were shopping it to the network. She said she was told this by a network exec who was in the room and who no longer works there, for otherwise, nobody at the network would admit this. Kim said that while they were screening the pilot, the film broke during Melinda's crossing over the ghost and the lights were brought up during repair. Suddenly in the bright lights, all the execs were caught, crying.

Is it any wonder the show got the greenlight?

The show is a lot darker now than it was when it started out, but I truly can't wait to see how it plays out. Perhaps if the show is on long enough, I'll even be thinking, 'hmmm, hottie,' instead of 'cute kid.'

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About the pics: There were so many people on stage, it was hard for me to choose for you. I chose the one where everyone is smiling so you can see how much they enjoy each other. And I'm sharing the one of Camryn Manheim and me. Time is limited at these events and my main desire was to talk to Kim and Ian, but Camryn is such a classy lady, who always looks so well put together fashion-wise, that she's the one I asked for a photo with. And I was delighted when she said yes.

While fans of Supernatural gathered in LA this weekend at a Creation Con to meet the two stars and the creator of the show, Star Trek fans gathered in LA on Saturday for another event: the red-carpet premiere at the Fine Arts Theater of Star Trek New Voyages: "To Serve All My Days."

The house was packed for this episode which Walter Koenig starred in. This also was the episode where the special effects looked so good to yours truly that it was one of the reasons I participated in the next episode, "World Enough and Time" with George Takei. (WEAT by the way has been nominated for both the Nebula and Hugo awards, up against episodes from Doctor Who, Torchwood, and BSG.)

James Cawley, whose successful Elvis impersonator career funds much of this online series and who plays Kirk, had three intentions with this premiere. First, when the episode was originally streamed, time restraints had prevented them from making the episode all it could be.

While the special effects of the original effort were awesome, James had wanted to do so much more and felt this episode deserved another shot. So with extra time, it was re-imagined with those visuals James and staff had wanted to include the first time around. Hence, the premiere of this special edition.

But more than that, James wanted to show appreciation to Walter Koenig, not only for his decades of wonderful entertainment, but also for his generous support of STNV. As James explained it, before Walter, STNV was 'just fans playing Star Trek.' Walter's generous participation took STNV to a new level.

Like for every actor, Walter's participation was contingent on a worthy script, but Koenig went one better than most actors and helped make that happen by phoning up his friend D.C. Fontana (one of my all-time favorite Trek writers) and asking her to write the script. And Dorothy came through with a marvelous script that gave closure to the Chekov character, so much so that she insists that the Chekov you see in subsequent episodes is not Pavel, but his cousin, Sergei.

And if you've read my other interviews (and when you read my upcoming article in Thrilling Wonder Stories), you know that George Takei also attributes his initial involvement in WEAT to Walter's encouragement.

The third reason was to showcase the effort to get Walter Koenig a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Unbelievably, he's the only actor of the original main cast to not have a star. And while Walter did not want James to make a big deal of it, James is determined to get him what he deserves.

Because this was so much more than just premiering an episode, it was billed as "A Night in 1969" and James and his crew delivered in taking us back there.

I'm probably going to write a more detailed review of the evening on my WordPress blog, "This Writer Wrote," because I can stop and start on that one. Here, I just wanted to share with you the fun I had, coming out in support of my friends.

One delightful encounter was meeting Chris Doohan, Jimmy Doohan's son. He's surprisingly handsome, although why that should surprise me, I don't know, but maybe because I met Jimmy when he was older and that's how I think of him. In talking to Chris, I mentioned it was a shame he couldn't play his father and he assured me he was too old.

He started to tell me about how good Simon Pegg was and I kinda cut him off, telling him that I had wanted to see Paul McGillion do the role.

Chris immediately stressed that he had wanted Paul to play his dad. In fact, Chris was quite keen on me understanding how much he had supported Paul McGillion in the role, and I assured him that I was well aware of his support. He then went on to say that Simon was very good in the role and I would like the performance.

Walter introduced me to his lovely actress wife, Judy Levitt, and after the show, I met his children Andrew and Danielle. Danielle had written, directed and acted in this wonderfully hilarious short about her Dad, called "Walter Koenig, Exposed" for us to see. It was edited by her brother Andrew who also acted in it and purported to tell us the 'true story of who Walter Koenig was.'

According to narrator and family friend, Alex Hunt, Walter was a Russian spy planted in the US. Danielle cleverly interspersed footage from her Dad's films to prove her point.

One funny sequence was how her Dad lied to them about going to Star Trek cons when he would sneak out to do his spying and that years later they learned that he sat at night in the hotel room making all the items he brought home, saying fans had given him.

I can not do justice to how funny and clever this piece was, but the Koenigs were sitting behind me and I just had to turn around and tell Danielle what a great job she did.

Come to think of it, I was like in a Chekov sandwich -- I had Walter behind me and Andy Bray who plays the young Chekov in front of me. Obviously a great place to be.

We also got trailers to the upcoming movie, Inalienable, Walter has produced, written, and acted in. JJ Abrams generously sent the trailer to his Star Trek film to help celebrate New Voyages.

It's nearly 1 am and the kitties are screaming for me to clean their litter boxes and go to bed, so I'm not going to describe the episode in detail here, except to say, that an accidental explosion causes the virus from "The Deadly Years" (I'm not up on my ST trivia) to revive and age Chekov prematurely. Chekov must face his mortality and decide whether the life he has chosen has been worth it.

But what was really cool about this episode presentation here was that they truly took us back to experiencing it as we would have in 1969. WITH COMMERCIALS. Ralph Miller had located and edited in commercials from back then, and while I don't know if I ever saw the particular commercials he used, they were so reminiscent of commercials I had seen, that they were delightful.

So too was a groan from a guy in the audience when an act came to an end and he moaned, "Not another commercial." We all laughed because, even though we were loving these commercial breaks, we all have gone through similar reactions in front of our TV at home.

The roadrunner Plymouth commercial was great fun, but the highlight for me was seeing again the wonderful original environmental PSA commercial-- the Native American who paddles his canoe through the polluted waters and stumbles through the garbage left on the ground in the forest AND CRIES FOR WHAT WE'VE DONE TO THE LAND. That tear rolling down his cheek always affected me growing up and even here, it choked me up.

When I first came to town and attended my first AFI Film Festival, I was fortunate enough to meet the Native American actor and tell him how much his performance had meant to me.

The sad thing is that I can't recall any environmental public service clips of that caliber today. In fact, I can't recall seeing any at all. If they are out there, they certainly aren't memorable like this one.

The final remarkable and spectacular gift was a surprise tag at the end. One of the jarring things to me was that "To Serve All My Days" gives a resolution to Pavel Chekov that is inconsistent with the young Pavel Chekov appearing in our "WEAT" episode, prompting DC Fontana to insist that future episodes starred Pavel's cousin, Sergei. This remarkable and fun tag bridges those two episodes nicely and I praised Andy for giving it to us.

My favorite part of the Q and A panel which ended the show was when someone asked DC Fontana how she got involved and she said, "Walter called and played a dirty trick on me. He asked, how would you like to write another original Trek episode? What could you say to that?"

After much picture-taking, handshaking, and kudos to the various actors and creative people, many of us gathered at Cantor's Deli to celebrate further.

It was a great night -- a fun trip into the past and a delightful evening spent with truly talented and wonderful people.

Now, if you agree that Walter should also have his star on Hollywood Walk of Fame and while he's still young enough to tread over it (the late Jimmy Doohan was sick by the time he was awarded his), you can write your support here:

Walk of Fame Commitee
c/ Hollywood Chamber of Commerce
7018 Hollywood Blvd, 2nd floor
Hollywood, CA 90028

That's right, the old-fashion way... with pen and paper.

You can also get more information at Walter Koenig's official site: www.walterkoenigsite.com/waltersstar

Hope you have enjoyed this glimpse with me because I'm getting insistent disgruntled howls from Danny Girl and Pacey Jack to get those litter boxes cleaned.

"To Serve All My Days" and "World Enough and Time" are episodes of the online Star Trek New Voyages which were honored with a TVGuide.com Video Series Award in 2007."

Now that the writers work stoppage is over with and everybody is trying to just get back to business and praying that the moguls will give the actors a fair deal so that we don't go through this all again... I want to thank you guys for the support you gave the WGA. And I thought the best way to do that would be to take another walk down memory lane.

In the old days, prior to 9/11, it used to be fairly easy to get onto a set if you were already on the studio lot, even one that said, closed. There was a real "us and them" chasm between fan and actors/crew back then, which Internet contact these days has happily bridged to a great extent. You didn't even have to work there to be "us" because just by being let into the studio meant someone vouched for you as "us."

If it was an outdoor shot, you just wandered in or flashed your studio badge at the guard and told him you were there to watch.

Inside the stages were a little trickier because while the building itself might be large and empty, the actual space that contains the current hot set is so much more limited. Still, you just needed to talk to the 1st AD, for he would know if they were on schedule or behind, would know if the director was stressed out because they were falling behind or things not going well, and would know if the director is in the mood to have visitors.

You didn't even need to track down the 1st AD yourself. All you had to do was find a PA on perimeter duty and he could radio your request to the 1st AD and get your Yea or Nay.

After 9/11, it's become much more difficult. Flashing your studio badge at the guard will probably only get you the request to move along and a reminder that you have no business there. Closed sets mean closed, and you have to get permission from the production office. Even those of us who work on a show get permission to invite someone on set these days.

But the movie, Indecent Proposal, with Robert Redford and Demi Moore was filmed in the years before 9/11 when things were a little looser. Like all big movies, it shot more on location than in the soundstage, so you didn't necessarily get to see the big stars walking around every day.

One day, the word went out that Robert Redford was in the soundstage and my friends decided they wanted to see him. So we walked over there and found a PA. To our surprise, the PA said, sure, go on in. I asked if he didn't have to radio the 1st AD and ask for us and he said, everybody else is in there, you may as well just go in.

Once inside, I understood his odd comment. There were more 'guests' inside than there were crew and actors. Most of these bystanders were people like us who worked for the studio and wanted a look-see. In fact it almost looked like the entire studio staff was there since people lined every wall.

They were filming the car scene where Redford makes his indecent proposal to Demi Moore. To create the stormy night in traffic setting, they would darken the stage and crewmen would push against the car to make it rock a bit. On either side they had mounted sprinkler tubes so that water would shoot up into the air and fall back down looking like rain. And a man wheeled a lighting rig on a dolly back and forth behind the car.

It couldn't look any more fake, but when I sidled up close to where the director was and peeked into his video monitor, I was impressed on how real it looked. The sprinklers throwing water did look like rain outside the windows and the lamp on dolly moving back and forth behind the vehicle actually looked like moving headlights in traffic.

Because Redford and Moore were in a closed vehicle, we really couldn't hear anything and I would have been all for leaving, but my friends were hoping to see Redford more up close and personal, so we stayed.

They were doing a lot of stops and starts, for whatever reason, but it did allow the actors a lot of time for themselves. Then a curious thing happened.

Each time there was a pause in the filming for something, the lights would come up and Redford went to talk to people.

At first, I assumed that he had personal guests of his own (and maybe he did) and had gone over to talk to them, but then I noticed that during the next break, he was talking to new people, and during the next break, new people again. During longer breaks, I watched him slowly make his way along the row of people by the walls, like going down a reception line.

It dawned on me that he wasn't just talking to friends, he was talking to anyone and everyone -- to whoever came to see him. Each time he was called back to set, he said goodbye and returned to filming and then when the director called cut and the lights went up and the buzzer sounded all clear, he'd unerringly return to where he left off.

As he slowly made his way towards where we were, I wondered if indeed he'd come to talk to us strangers or whether I was misreading things and he really just had that many friends.

And yes, indeed, he did come talk to us in one of those breaks. I don't remember much about the conversation since it was a long time ago, but I remember that he thanked us for coming to see him and that he talked to us each individually, even though we were standing in a group, and only left when he was called back to work, and took his leave politely.

And through the years since, what I remember most is not his charm or good looks, but what a class act he was, what a great guy. Nobody was expecting him to come up and talk to them, especially not with the numbers that were there. Nobody would have blamed him if he blanched at how long it would take to meet everyone and nobody would have blamed him for ignoring us in favor of recharging his internal batteries during those times, reading over his lines, or teasing his co-stars. Instead, he chose to mingle in the hordes from all over the Paramount lot, who had come to gawk at him, so to speak, and who inadvertently made the work even harder to do for the disruption of having so many people there. Definitely one of a kind there, and for that, I'll always remember the day and circumstances under which I met Robert Redford.

From Day 1, fans have been supportive of their favorite striking writers and striking writers in general. Moonlight fans brought pizza to picketers at the Warner Brothers gates when I was there and today, Battlestar Galactica fans fed us Krispy Kreme donuts at NBC Studios where we were picketing Jay Leno. While for many people, today was a holiday celebrating Martin Luther King, Jay Leno had a show and an audience and writers were out front protesting that he was doing it without a signed contract with the WGA.

Apparently, Xena fans have been bringing water and snacks to the writers picketing Disney studios.

I've never been to the picket lines at Disney, despite the fact that I hear Carl Binder walks the line there and I'd love to say, "Hey, I met you during a story meeting on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman which (showrunner) Beth Sullivan was kind enough to let me attend." So I haven't had the opportunity to meet any of the Xenaverse fans.

This will change on Thursday, January 24, 2008 from 11am - 2pm, when Xena fans have been invited to join the writers, producers and actors of Xena, Warrior Princess on the picket line at NBC Studios, Alameda gate.

It is uncertain who all will show up, because, like everything else, it depends on availability, but so far these actors and writers are planning to be there: Renee O'Connor, Claire Stansfield, Rob Trebor, Adrienne Wilkinson, Rob Tapert, RJ Stewart, Katherine Fugate, Liz Friedman, Steven L. Sears, Tim Omundson, Vicki Pratt, TJ Scott, Paul Robert Coyle, and I believe Bob Orci as well. Possibly others, so don't stay away just because your favorite might not be listed.

And if those people aren't attraction enough, yours truly will be there. I didn't work on Xena, but I did work on her big brother, Hercules, so I suspect they'll welcome me with open arms and not chakram me off the sidewalk.

If you can come, it will be a delight to meet you. Like always, I'll be the one with the Hercules ball cap on, with the miniature Writers Strike sign sticking out of it.

If you see a miniature Writers Strike sign sticking out of a hat band of a tan hat, covering a full reddish brown beard, with cameras hanging hither and yon, that's NOT ME. That's Steve Sears.

For those who are heeding the call, Steve Sears drew up guidelines for how to act on the picket line. You can find them here:

http://www.pondalee.com/picketrules.htm

These are very important to abide by, not only so we can have fun, but because picketing is serious business. So far, the police and the guards have shown sympathy for us and been decent to us, but that's because we do not make their jobs harder and we are all well-behaved.

And while we've had the odd finger and nasty yell to contend with from a few angry motorists, nobody has tried to run us over as has happened at other studios (close calls, nobody hurt). We need to keep it that way.

For more information, see:

http://www.ausxip.com/wgastrike.html

Hope to see you there.

No photos today. Not because my camera is on the fritz or I forgot to buy batteries. But because I only have two hands and even so, it’s hard to juggle a picket sign and an umbrella, let alone anything else. But there I was, outside in the rain at NBC Burbank, walking back and forth in the rain, showing solidarity with other writers. It could have been worse – it could have been snow, if say, I were in New York.

But juggling isn’t the only problem I encountered. If the umbrella covered my head, then the sign jutted out at an angle and made it difficult for people to get around me. And if I tried to hold the sign upright, then the umbrella angled off and I got wet and still whacked people. Also, it made it difficult to talk to anybody on the line if you were a living danger of smacking him or her.

And I wanted to talk to people. Despite being wet, everybody was very upbeat. I managed to talk to some sitcom writers from Two and a Half Men.

Some kind soul brought hot coffee, and I gratefully went over to get some. As I stared at the pot, the awful truth struck me… I had no free hand to hold the cup, with one around the sign and the other on the umbrella. So I mournfully said goodbye to the caffeine lift and told myself it was better for my health that way.

Soon though, I gave up on the umbrella, and elected to just get wet – while Jay Leno sat warm and toasty and dry in his offices. Let’s hope that my next post isn’t reporting a raging cold.

My friend and colleague, STEVEN L. SEARS, (Xena: Warrior Princess, Sheena, Riptide), had the right idea. He had a 6x6 miniature strike sign sticking out of the band on his hat, miniature signs he said he made a bunch of for children’s day. If any of you have seen Steve, he’s almost never without his signature hat, and having the sign on the hat gives him two free hands… to take loads of photos. I should have taken a photo of him so you could see what I mean. Oh, darn, right, no free hands. Anyway, Steve takes great photos. And he’s taken many on the different strike lines he’s been on. I urge you to visit his website: http://www.pondalee.com/

Not only can you see his hat and his nifty photos, but also you can gain wisdom on the strike from a truly gifted writer, such as:

“Unfortunately, as of November 5, 2007, The Writers Guild of America has gone on strike.

The reasons are complicated in form, but simple to understand. Writers (and the other Guilds) are seeking fair contracts. The AMPTP (representing studios and networks) are seeking profits.

"Fair" and "Profit" don't have to conflict except when the latter comes at the expense of the former.
So we strike.”

Simplistic answer, but truth is usually simple. A gifted writer who knows how to pitch stories for episodes knows how to boil it all down to the nitty gritty. Or what we in the business call the ‘logline.’

And for those of you supporting the writers, he has a link where fans can download their own little placards (for their websites, dashboards of cars, windows or even desks if you are daring). That way, you can show your support for your favorite shows or writers.

Now Steve didn’t create these… a wonderfully talented Whedonesque.com fan, lexigeek, did. Perhaps you guys are already ahead of me and already know all about them, but I was delighted to see signs made up for almost every show there are fans of, including some of my favorite shows that are no longer on the air, like Sports Night, West Wing, Xena and Buffy. I could take issue with her for not including Hercules, but what the hey…

The important thing is that I’m sure you all can find some of your favorite show and writer placards among them to display.

Let me know which ones you choose to download. I’d love to know which shows have the most fans supporting those who write the shows they love.

I may even download some myself.

I spoke to one of the strike captains about how angry people are with the concept of giving Leno a pass for being a scab. He said that he’s been hearing that from a lot of picketers. He assured me they were not giving Leno a pass, that Leno understands he did wrong (apparently he’s been on the phone at least a couple of times today alone) and that the Guild will take appropriate measures against him. The strike captain also told me that NBC wants this to turn into a war and that the WGA doesn’t want to engage in war because that would only distract from the real business at hand.

I can understand how detrimental such a distraction would be. It’s like spinning one’s wheels with the shills who have popped up all over the Internet, trashing the writers, the WGA and individual supporters. If you play their game, you waste your time on people who aren’t going to change their povs because they don’t really believe in those povs anyway, they are only spouting them to waste your time and keep you from engaging in the important stuff. So it’s best to leave it in the hands of those with the knowledge of what’s going on and what needs to be done.

And as I leave you here, it is still pouring down rain. The streets are flooded and I hear there are traffic accidents everywhere. But it’s something to be happy about, because we were already on water rationing in places, afraid we were heading back into another drought.

This used to be what Union people said all the time, Oscar-winning cinematographer HASKELL WEXLER said to his IATSE brothers a few weeks ago.

I was emailed a few new entries I wanted to share. Perhaps you have seen them, but if not, this is a look at the AMPTP position:

http://www.amptp.com/

and

http://unitedhollywood.blogspot.com/2007/12/amptp-explains-their-latest-proposal.html

I found both very amusing. Check them out if you have a mind to.

I also finished putting up my comments on the Reality Writers Rally. You might find that of interest. I learned things that I didn't know about that end of the business.

For those of you who prefer to read both sides of the strike, not just the TVGuide's staff posts starting with snide comments like: "Well, that didn't take long." in front of reporting "The WGA has swiftly dismissed...", here is an email that was sent out from Hank Steinburg to many of his fellow writers. If you don't know who Hank Steinburg is, go look him up on IMBD or Google.

Since he has given permission for this to be spread so that other writers can understand what's going on, I think it's okay to share it with you so you understand what's going on. After all, Hank knows how important public opinion is. And I'm gravely concerned that if you don't have viewpoints from the actual strike lines, you'll have nothing but the PR to believe.

There's something that I learned talking with writers while we were making signs for the last rally that I'd like you to consider: writers are spending 3-4 hours straight walking in circles on concrete pavement in 85 degree LA weather (except for today when it was pouring rain) and they are doing it every day for 5 straight days, for 4 weeks now. That's 80 hours of walking for men and women of all degrees of physical fitness who are used to sitting in front of a computer 14 hours a day in air-conditioned offices. This is not fun. Ask yourself how much fun it would be for you if you were doing it.

Okay, here's the email which has been distributed to writers today:

To my fellow writers,

I'm sure tonight's email from the Writer's Guild was a tad disheartening, particularly after expectations were raised this week that we would be close to making a deal and that the studios were prepared to make substantial concessions.

I spoke to a member of the Negotiating Committee tonight to get more enlightened myself as to what the hell happened: what was the disconnect between the rumors and expectations and the dismal results of this week?

The answer, apparently, is that this is precisely the studios' strategy: raise expectations through disinformation in the media and elsewhere, get us feeling comfortable, get us psychologically used to the idea that the strike will end, and then dash those hopes. This is essentially what they did on November 4th and they are trying to do it again. That is why they leaked the news to Nicky Fink on Monday that the deal was essentially done. If we go soft and get comfortable, the thinking goes, we'll end up accepting a sh*tty deal. Apparently, this strategy has worked for them in the past but we can't let it work now.

As long as we understand what they are doing and why they are doing it, we should not be disheartened. The studios' real mandate is to close this deal by mid to late December to get the TV season back on track in January and to save their pilot season. They have no urgency right at this moment to resolve this. Their coming back to the table now was part of a P.R. mislead and was actually meant to raise our hopes, then thwart them as a means of psychological warfare. To wear us down. They will, in fact, probably not negotiate for real until closer to their mid-December deadline and in the meantime will try to work on our collective resolve.

So although the idea of picketing for a couple of more weeks doesn't sound particularly glamorous to any of us, we're still in good shape to make a fair deal and we shouldn't allow their tactics to dampen our spirits or forget what it is we're striking over in the first place. They need to make a deal, they will make a deal, they just want to gauge us as much as they can. I thought it enormously helpful to understand where they are coming from and hope it will help you too.

The leadership understands that an informed constituency is a motivated constituency and members of the leadership and negotiating committee will be out on the picket lines on Monday to elucidate some of this and to answer questions, but no reason to churn and stew all weekend till then.

So rest up this weekend and don't despair.

And by all means, feel free to forward this email to any of our brethren.

We're all in this together!

Hank

Thought you might get a kick out of seeing a personal image of the person who has been bringing you this news. Forgive the bedraggled and windblown appearance -- I had already been on the picket line for a while when I met up with a friend who insisted we take pictures of our participation. Otherwise, I never would have taken mine.

What I wanted to bring you today is about a touching gesture of solidarity and humanity that truly moved me yesterday.

We got an email from the Writers Guild that Local 13 of the Longshoremen’s Union brought over to headquarters 15 60-pound baskets of Thanksgiving dinner fixings – turkey…fruit…veggies…stuffing ingredients… even apple juice. Donated by their rank and file members, from their own pockets, these were offered as a gift of union solidarity and a reminder of what Union means.

The email offered these to writers and assistants who were remaining here in LA for the holidays as long as they came quickly to pick them up. I have family here so I am not in need of such help for the holidays, but I do understand that some of our little people, so to speak, the assistants, did get the baskets and hopefully that will help ease the hardship of this time.

I think kudos are in order to Local 13 of the Longshoremen's Union for understanding what it's like to be on strike and for caring so much about their Union brethren, even though they aren't brethren within their close circle.

And one other thing that I want to mention here that I think is cool. You may all know this, but as you are aware, I'm a bit busy and unable to keep up with what's happening on the boards. And that is the fan activists movement to send pencils to the industry moguls which was apparently started by Josh Whedon and the Buffy fans (you can correct me if I'm wrong). This is a great way for you guys to demonstrate your support and your power. And the great thing is that whatever money is left over from sending the pencils will go into a fund to help the non-WGA workers who have been hurt by this strike... the little people who can ill-afford this strike and yet, many of whom are out on the picket line as well.

Please at least check it out at:

unitedhollywood.blotspot.com/2007/11/mighty-pencil-how-to-support-writers.html

It also gives you great information on what this strike is all about and how you can help. And I do believe with you guys helping to spread what this fight is about, we can bring an early resolution to this strike and show that a united people for fairness is a force to be reckoned with.

And I promise to get off my soapbox soon. If we can just end this, I can go back to spending time here sharing things like behind the scenes tidbits... and whatever I think might be of interest to you.

With the crush of cameras I had to endure, I sure hope you have not had to wait for my post to know that Presidential candidate John Edwards came to lend his support to the striking writers at the NBC Burbank lot.

Seriously, I now know how people get trampled at Rock Concerts. One minute I was listening to John Edwards tell us how he was with us in our fight for justice and how when he's our president, he'll strengthen all unions and the next minute I was being MOVED by this unstoppable force as the press, paparazzi, and cameras surged to follow him as he shook hands and went to walk the line. I'm not even sure my feet were contacting the ground any more. I couldn't get out, I couldn't stand still, I was helpless to do anything but let the tide carry me, and I was surrounded by people, shoulder to shoulder moving with the same tide. It was kind of scary. The strike sign I was holding disappeared from my grip and was trampled under feet and I was praying that I didn't stumble myself and go down. My biggest fight of the day was to work my way out to the fringes.

Nevertheless, it was a very good day. As I said in the last post, having no clue he was coming to join us, he's my candidate -- he's the only one I believe represents the worker and has our needs at heart. Yes, I know he's wealthy and a successful lawyer, but who wants an unsuccessful lawyer running the country, and since he started from the same kind of poor roots I did and worked his way up, often championing the little people, yeah, I believe in him.

So his appearance was doubly good for me, first because anything that brings out the press to keep the WGA strike in the public eye is a good thing. for it's when a strike is out of sight, out of mind, that's when the bosses are able to starve the strikers out. And second, because of all the candidates, he's the one I, personally, want to see be in solidarity with us.

Interestingly, James Denton of Desperate Housewives was wearing a John Edwards campaign T-shirt, so I went up and told him, he picked the right candidate, that I loved him on his show, but I even loved him more now with his political choice. He shared with me that he's been traveling with John and said, "John's a good guy."

Anyway, someone told me that there was over 2000 people there, even with strikers manning the other studios as well.

By now I'm sure you've heard the great news that both sides are going back into talks after the holiday. This is great news, but it's only the beginning... it doesn't mean anything is settled or that the strike will be unnecessary.

But it's the promising sign that we all needed to start things moving. I think the studios have blinked. I don't think they expected the kind of support the writers have gotten (and you guys are a crucial part of that support) from the actors, crew people, other writers guilds and the public.

I think they thought they were going to be able to finish far more episodes without the writers than it looks like they will get. I think they felt that if they needed writers, they would just snap their fingers and be able to get writers from other countries and hungry non-union writers or even wannabe writers to write for them. I don't think they reckoned on the opposition they have been facing. Or at least, I'm hoping that has sobered them into approaching the negotiation table seriously -- both sides have to realize that they are not invincible before they will be ready to negotiate.

And I don't think they reckoned on the ground swell of support from the public who recognized what's right and fair and also stepped up to the plate. It's wonderful to see that power can truly reside with the people. And I hope that has knocked sense into both sides so that this strike will be only a few weeks.

I have been shocked at some of the downright meanness and hostility on this site, but thankfully none of it is on this blog. And I've been even more overwhelmed by the support and caring of people on this site as well.

Still, I caution that the fight isn't done yet. They have only taken the first step, to start talking -- things are not done with until the deal is hammered out. Negotiations can still fall apart without resolution.

So we have to keep the pressure on. As the WGA president said, a strong strike is a short one. Let there only be hardship for this one holiday.