Buffy Reunion

It’s no secret oanimation and I are huge James Marsters fans, but the bottom line is that it all began with one show we both fell in love with: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. When we first heard about the Paley Fest’s Buffy Reunion, we knew we could not miss out no matter what, which was one of the main reasons we decided to split a premium package. Best.Decision.EVER!
Though every Paley Fest event we attended (and cared about) we had the opportunity to sit in the front row, we really, really didn’t want to chance missing that for the Buffy panel. Throughout the week we made good friends with the people that were always ahead of us, which included TeacherDarling, whom I’d had the pleasure of meeting a couple of years ago through spikes_cj at… was it BE Blowout? I can’t even remember anymore! But I was very happy that she was attending because she truly is a lovely person! oanimation and I bonded with her and about 5 other folks and after a rather unpleasant occurrence with another premium package holder at the Chuck panel, we made plans together to arrive at the Cinerama Dome early and organize ourselves so we wouldn’t have any issues. And uh… let’s just say I hadn’t been outdoors for a sunrise for quite a while. And someone explained to us why we were so chilly just when the sun was about to break through.

Honestly, the time we waited seemed to just fly by us… it was so much fun! Spending as much time as we did in queue made the event feel like a day-long fan event rather than just the 2-hour panel it was scheduled to be. It was fantastic meeting fans from all around the world and basking in the giddiness that was us. I must say, kudos to the folks that arrived at 7pm the night before to make line for standby tickets to the reunion. All their efforts paid off and they were able to get into the panel just in the nick of time. Yay!!

Also, kudos to the Paley Fest people and their security team for the care and organization they put into making sure that when the doors opened, no chaos ensued. For that matter, they made us feel like all our efforts mattered. When the Arclight’s security guard had us move due to security reasons, one of the Paley Fest show runners made it a point to look for us (the premium package peeps) and know where we were. Once it was time to go inside the theater, any anxiety we had about line-jumpers and pushy people were put at ease–it had to be one of the calmest treks to the front row I’ve ever had for technically unassigned seating. I say technically because, while willing away the hours, we literally all mapped out where we wanted to sit so that there wouldn’t be any conflicts. The previous panels had given us a chance to figure out what seats we liked the most and oanimation and I agreed that sitting to the left was definitely the best choice for us. Probably needless to say, but we ALL got the seat we wanted! Yay!! :o)

So, devious as oanimation is, she picked up a tip that by looking at the seating charts printed under the Paley cameras, we’d be able to figure who was there and where they’d be seated. We’d noticed that there were only 11 chairs on stage plus 1 for the moderator. We figured that James had probably gotten tied up with Dragonball, but didn’t know who else could be missing. Turned out James was in attendance, but Alyson Hannigan and Eliza Dushku weren’t. :o( I was really looking forward to seeing them both, and possibly Alexis Denisof if he came with Alyson. We also made it a point to see who we’d be sitting directly in front of and since we were on the same side as the moderator, we got Joss, SMG, Nick and James. *g* No complaints there!

Through the grapevine, we heard that Pat, the CEO of the Paley Center for Media, would not be able to attend the reunion, which not to be mean, made us a little giddy. There are only so many times you can hear a similiar introduction. On the other hand, the person that ended up introducing the program did so as Buffy the Vampire… *rolls eyes* Joss was running late due to production of his most recent project, Doctor Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog, so Marti Noxon introduced the show and the episode we’d be watching, Once More With Feeling. I gotta say I was a little disappointed that they would be screening an entire episode, only because it would cut into the Q&A time we’d have with the panelists. Plus, with the lack of sleep and anxiety, I was afraid I’d end up falling asleep during the screening. Do have to say, though, what could be possibly better than coffee? How about a 32-foot singing Spike in all his willing-slave-glory? *perks up* Hee!

I’ll admit, the screening went by much faster than I thought and by 8pm, the lights were back up and the panelists were being introduced. *bounce* They were all SO PRETTY! I always forget how pretty James is until I see him again. Though his longish-uber-curly-quite-puffy hair was rather surprising, after I got used to it, I really liked it. It just looked so natural. I really, really liked Emma’s outfit, too. Nice boots and the hat was awesome, though a little annoying because it did shadow her face. SMG impressed me too and I couldn’t help liking her just that much. She looked incredibly beautiful, too. Seth Green is without a doubt one of the funniest guys on this planet. I always love when he’s a guest on KROQ’s Kevin & Bean’s morning show because he totally brings the fun (except for that one time he showed up in the studio uber-sick and left cooties for everyone… I don’t think the morning show crew appreciated that).

Matt Roush, the moderator for the night, brought interesting questions, however failed to properly include all of the panelists in the conversation. He tried, he really did, but with a panel so large it was going to be a challenge and unfortunately not everyone really had a chance to say much. Joss, James, Nick, and SMG more or less got the show started, although James had less to say as the program continued. Charisma, Emma, Amber, and David Greenwalt hardly had the oppoturnity to say anything and Seth and Nick just made themselves heard whenever they could, which made for lots of fun.

Hmm, probably one of my favorite moments during the panel was when James and SMG found out that in the Season 8 Buffy comics, Buffy sleeps with a woman. That was just hilarious. And James’, “Take that, Angel” when SMG told him that they were chosen has hottest love scene was pretty funny too. The last question of the night was from Roush, asking each panelist to list their most recent projects. SMG mentioned her trip to Africa with the organzation she works for and the new movie she’ll be doing, Veronika Decides to Die; I can’t remember what Nick Brendon mentioned, I think he just said acting; James only mentioned Dragonball, and the audience reminded him of Smallville, Torchwood, and oh yeah, his music… Emma (or was it Michelle?) thought it was funny that the fans knew better than he did; Emma mentioned a couple of movies she made that are coming out this year and that she got married; Michelle talked about a couple of movies she made and her guest-star role on Gossip Girl; Marti Noxon mentioned her work on Private Practice and another new show she’s developing…. I think; Charisma… I can’t remember what she said… oh right! Seth joked that they were working on a work out video and went on to describe it and well, it was hilarious. It really was. Amber, on her part, mentioned spending time writing and having a few novels coming out soon. Neat! David Greenwalt, apparently, is not currently working due to health reasons.

All in all, I had a great time during the panel because well, it was the cast of Buffy on stage. I couldn’t get over the fact that I was seeing so many of them at one time, on one stage. I’m still giddy just thinking about it. And for what it’s worth, I was happy that they extended the panel by 15 minutes so that instead of an hour, we got 1 and 15 minutes! :P

After the panel it got interesting. oanimation and I tried very hard to get SMG’s autograph, but despite being right in front of her, we couldn’t get anything except crushed by the people behind us. I managed to get Michelle and Emma’s attention, though, and they signed my little treasure… I have a Buffy magazine that I’ve had everyone I’ve ever encountered sign. I was really hoping I could get SMG to sign it because that would just about complete it, but I seriously doubt I’ll ever have the opportunity to get her autograph again. I did get Seth’s though, and hee… I had Joss and James sign it again. *g* Joss was there and I was too, so I said to myself, “Why not?” Same with James. I was very happy that he stayed to sign and made it a point to start on one end of the stage and slowly move his way down. He tried to get as many fans as possible and despite the pandemonium, even chatted with us. I don’t know why it always surprises me when he recognizes me. I really don’t, but he did and he chatted for a little bit. He mentioned that he’d just gotten in from Mexico City and had spent the last 24 hours trying to make it back to L.A. I thanked him, then, for making every effort to be there because it really was just super-cool. He was about to miss oanimation, but we managed to get his attention and he signed and of course, recognized her too. It’s a little bit of a blur from there, but I think I mentioned going down to San Diego next weekend for the indie fest and he seemed happy about that.

Once we had James’ autograph, we were pretty much done. Most of the panelists had been ushered away, though I did notice that David Fury and Drew Goddard were still around and were signing things for fans. I was about to make my way over to David, when I spotted someone I knew and hadn’t seen for many years. Sneaky Kelly, not telling me a good friend from high school would be there! I was very happy to see him and almost forgot I was on a mission. I had to excuse myself and got David’s and Drew’s autographs and then rejoined my friends. To say I was ecstatic is an understatement. I couldn’t have been a happier Yani, really.

oanimation, girlfmkitty, mad_brilliant_, lightdependent, Kelly, her daughter, my friend, a couple of the guys we queued with all day, and I went to Denny’s for a late dinner, where I quickly proceeded to crash from the adrenaline high I’d been riding all day. I made it through dinner, just barely.

It was such a fantastic day!!! Absolutely brilliant! I couldn’t have asked for more. I can’t believe it’s over now, but wow. The Buffy Reunion is definitely going to stay with me for a long time.