SDCC 2014 - Panels & Podcasts

This year, I opted out of going to the big room panels so I attended smaller panels at the convention center, along with a couple of offsite panels at Nerd HQ. I also attended a live recording of the Nerdist Podcast at the Balboa Theatre. But unlike the panels at Hall H, Ballroom 20 and the like, these panels aren't free. However, they aren't unreasonably expensive either.

The tickets for Nerd HQ panels cost $22 each and for a very intimate venue and a higher chance of being able to ask a question, I'd say it's pretty fair. I like to think of it as a panel "fast pass." I'm not saying it trumps the panels at the actual con because they are actually tons of great ones there, but if you want to see the “big Hollywood stars” and don't want to camp out for Hall H/Ballroom 20, this is a good alternative. You are at least guaranteed entrance, no matter what and there is no such thing as a bad seat.

On Friday, I went to my first ever Nerd HQ panel featuring the lovely Evangeline Lilly (Lost, The Hobbit), who was there to promote her book The Squickerwonkers.

Of course, the audience asked Lost and Hobbit related questions, but she also talked extensively about her book. She actually released it last year, but made some changes and is now releasing a new version in November. I believe you can purchase an audio accompaniment and guess who the narrator is? You'll never guess so I guess I'll just tell you... It is none other than the seventh Doctor himself, Sylvester McCoy! They played a sample and he sounded incredible. I might just buy it just for that. If you want to watch a recording of her panel, then check it out here. You might even spot me, but I'm not sure. I actually have not watched it myself.



On Saturday, I went to a live recording of the Nerdist Podcast with Chris Hardwick, Jonah Ray and Matt Mira. Okay wait, that sentence makes it sound like I went to the podcast with them. I didn't, though that would be awesome. I actually went with a friend. Their guests that night were Evangeline Lilly (I swear I'm not stalking her) and Michael Rooker (The Walking Dead, Guardians of the Galaxy).

It was really fun just watching them talk. There were lots of beaver jokes and lots of Jonah Ray looking like he wanted to be anywhere but there. I'll post up the link to the podcast as soon as they upload it!

On Sunday, I had a front row ticket to the Supernatural Nerd HQ Panel. This was supposed to be my only panel of the day, but as luck would have it, my friend Tiffany had an extra ticket to the Joss Whedon panel, minus the Joss Whedon. Joss had injured his knee and had to have surgery. The poor guy was stuck in London. Luckily, good ol' Nathan Fillion was able to round up a few of his closest friends to stand-in for Joss. Seth and Alan were probably my favorites. Seth knows how to work a crowd for sure. I'd watch him talk for hours.

But alas, Joss did manage to make an appearance, via video chat! You should've heard the cheers. It definitely was one of my favorite moments of the entire weekend.

If you want to watch Joss Whedon, but not really Joss Whedon's panel, check it out here.

And finally, the cherry on top of the one of the best weekends I've had all year: the Supernatural panel!

The boys showed up a bit late and didn't get to answer as many questions as most of us would've hoped, but they did share some pretty funny stories with the audience so it made up for it. Plus, they're not bad to look at so they could've talked about how to mow grass and I would've been just as engaged.

So much was going on with Shep rearranging his chair, to him pretty much harrassing an audience member, Jared and Aisha Tyler giving people money, to Misha throwing gummy bears at everyone. It was a great time and I definitely will try to go to another Supernatural panel in the future.

And yes Jensen and Jared are just pretty in person as they are on tv, if not even more. It's actually kind of unfair. If you want to watch this panel, you can check it out here.

And that's all for this year's panels and podcasts! Hope you enjoyed this post because I sure did. I'll see you in my final SDCC Photo Diary installment!