My Chuck at Comic Con 2009 Experience
Getting Ready and Pre-Panel Shenanigans:
- Woke up around 3:30 am to be out of the house by 4:30 am—arrived at the convention center around 5. I’d say about 75 people were already in line when I got there. Boo.
- I attempted to sleep a little but couldn’t. I decided to look at every single person that walked by with the “I got here before you” look. Muahaha.
- The “Elite” security let us in around 7:15ish and I fast walked to the Ballroom 20 line. A little arguing—perhaps just confusion—about where the front of the line was. Result: I was in the right line.
- After that, there was just some moving of the line to make room for the 2500 people trying to get into the ballroom and some more waiting.
- 9ish am: they start letting us in!
- My seat: 2nd row, center-ish with Sepinwall directly in front of me
The Panel:
- Retrospective Season 2 Reel shown that ended with Chuck knowing kung fu. I could have swore there was a slight fake out with the lights because I personally thought it was over but then the screen read “One Month Later”
- Josh Schwartz, Chris Fedak, and Zac were in Josh Schwartz’s office eating Subway footlongs trying to accept that Season 2 was probably the end for Chuck. Zac was a like Waaah? Over? Josh and Chris: Yupp, probably (somewhere along those lines). Phone rings. Schwartz: Well… we’ve been renewed. Zac was excited, ready to work hard. Chris was surprised because Chuck knows kung fu. He has no ideas. But wait… they’ve got it… Jeffster!
- Out comes our favorite duo rockin’ the stage with Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls.” Ballroom 20 goes crazy! Cameras out, flashes everywhere. The rest of the cast joins the two during the chorus. Zac stands on a chair and gets into it himself. The whole cast gets into it—showing us once again how awesome the group are.
- Josh Schwartz says thank you for the “Save Chuck Campaign.”
- Some infoshizzle: JGo was wearing pink underwear (first pointed out by Adam); Zac has been playing a lot of video games for his fight training; Zac says that his best friend from the cast if Josh, Yvonne got a “you’re hot” cat call; Morgan will get a second chance with Carina; something emotional and traumatic will happen between Chuck and Sarah but JS promises that it will be really, really good.
- Zac’s dad was in the audience?; CF has always wanted to write about an Ellie/Casey moment; fans would like a Chuck musical; Awesome will enter into the spy world leaving Ellie to be comforted by Morgan (teehee); chuck out CHUCKMEOUT.COM; Buy More stays.
- Panel ends with the cast standing and applauding out to the audience.
The Signing:
- Craziness at the WB Booth. Confusion about where the line will be forming. With more than an hour before the signing, an announcement: “Welcome to the WB Booth. If you are here for Chuck, the line has been capped.” What? HUH? What? HUH? Queue in the disappointed fans (including me).
- I decided to wander around the booth anyway just to take some pics and see if I can get lucky at the end of the panel and just ask Scott, Mark, and Vik to sign the Wii I brought last year.
- Wandering around isn’t easy on a Saturday at Comic Con. It took me around 10 minutes to make my way around the booth because of the massive lump of people around the signing area.
- Circled the booth around 3 times so that I don’t risk being yelled at by the CC security/staff. 15 minutes before the signing was over, people spot C.S. Lee. He goes inside the ropes to say hello to the cast and as he is leaving, I ask him for his autograph. It’s Harry Tang people!
- I notice that Scott, Mark, and Vik were still waiting for the next person to come around the corner to get their autograph so I raise the Wii toward Scott and he took it. Yay. So did Mark and Vik. Mission accomplished! Thanks WB, I’m not bummed anymore.
- I also got Yvonne to sign my phone. She was in front of me so I ask her if she can sign the thing that I was holding in my hand at that moment. She didn’t have to because she needed to go but she did. I just thought you all should know. Thanks, Yvonne!
- After the signing, Zac, Josh, and Adam decide to play a little RockBand. They put on a show and the fans could not get enough. We love Chuck!
That’s what happened today and I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome. Chuck at Comic Con 2010—here I come!
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I’m Glad every one had a great time! Looking forward to season 2 on DVD & Season 3 on TV.
Thanks, Ivy, for the wonderful report!!!
Thanks for the report! Chuck was the best panel in Comic-Con. They were so incredibly fun.
Great report!! In defense of the WB booth, there were people lined up for the Chuck signing since 9:20 when they let the line into the exhibit hall ( I got up at 3:30 am to be the front of that line) all of us knowing that we had to sacrifice seeing the Chuck panel in order to be in the autograph line (which never officially started as they wouldn’t let us line up) A couple of the WB employees really understood that it would be unfair to let in people who came down from the Chuck panel when there were people waiting for hours before that, so they let in people early and even then there were people who didn’t get in. It was definitely chaotic, and I understand that hardcore fans came down from the panel hoping to get autographs, but I think the WB was just trying to be fair. You got some great pictures of them signing though, which I was unable to do while walking through the line-up.
You took a pic of my girlfriend and I at the signing. I’m the dorky asian dude talking with Yvonne and my girlfriend is with Adam Baldwin. The line was closed before the Panel even ended. I couldn’t get into the panel so I headed down to the WB booth at 10:00am. We were number 3 & 4 in “line” for the chuck signing. I was lucky, I got the golden ticket on the poster. I won season 2 dvd.
kat Reply:
July 27th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
thats dool u really won a season2 dvd… great for you… so u have it now or will it be delivered to u? hhehehehehe
Brian Reply:
July 31st, 2009 at 3:12 pm
It will be mailed to me when it releases. I think it comes out sometime in Feb 2010
I was at the panel and had hoped to get into the signing since I raced down as soon as the panel ended. I guess its somewhat of a relief knowing that I couldn’t have done both. The panel was freaking incredible. JEFFSTER!!! There is nothing else to say.
On Friday, I met Adam Baldwin at another booth where he was signing autographs and taking photos. My wife and family bonded with him as much as I did. I mentioned to him that I was bummed that Yvonne wasn’t signing and he told me that there was supposed to be a signing, but he didn’t know the exact time nor place. I found the listing in the book saying that the signing was at the WB booth and also found that the booth people didn’t know the times of the signing. I stopped by the booth Adam was at shortly before he was to leave and relayed the info I found. He said that if I had problems to just give him a nod and he would take care of it. Before I left Friday night, I stopped by another booth and picked up to stills, one of Yvonne and Zach and the other was a cast photo. Boy was I glad that I did.
Well, as you know, there was no getting into the signing. I nodded to Adam and he just looked at me and threw up his hands in a gesture that showed it was out of his hands. Thats when I went back to my friend that was still standing in the closed line that wasn’t a line and grabbed my photos. I went back to Adam and showed him the sleeve that had the two photos in it. He motioned for me to pass the photos over to him. He pulled both out and mouthed that he didn’t have any silver sharpies when he saw that group photo had a dark background. I said just to sign in black, since thats what everyone had in their hand. He passed the one photo of Zach and Yvonne to them to sign, since it had a white background and they could sign in black. He then found some silver sharpies near Yvonne and Josh, grabbed one and put the group photo in front of Zach, Josh and Yvonne. They signed that photo, then he took the photo to Sarah and Ryan and they signed it. All that was left was for Adam to sign it and then he neatly placed the photos back in the sleeve and handed them back to me. You can’t imagine the joy and amazement I felt at that point. Kind of like Ivy with her moment with Mark, Scott and Vik. I only wish that the photo had had Mark, Scott and Vik in the photo as well. I want to say to all of you reading this… if you ever get a chance to speak with any of the cast from Chuck, you will find the experience an absolute pleasure. They are a great bunch of people and as Ivy and I found out, they will go out of their way to please their fans.
I was lucky enough to stand behind Zac when they played Rockband! They originally got me up to play bass, but Adam Baldwin decided to play last minute so I gave him my guitar. The security girl told me to stay up with them and get the crowd clapping. I felt like an idiot and didn’t know what to do! But, I was lucky enough to get Adam, Ryan, Zac and Josh’s autographs after! Now back to reality!:(
Kevin Reply:
July 27th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
I recorded their Rockband “performance” on my cell phone. I didn’t have anything else to use. I haven’t looked at it, but I know others had regular video cameras, so its possible that a good video will show up in time.
Oh wow. I wrote this around 12 am and it shows. My tenses are all over the place!
@Kevin: I agree with you. The Chuck cast is amazing. You could definitely tell that they were there to say thanks!
@Erin: When you put it that way, I could definitely understand. I still wish that the WB people had a little more communication with each other. When you’ve been up since 3:30am to see the panel and hurry down for the signing, the last thing you want to hear is “I don’t know” as the answer to your question. That’s really frustrating. Who do I have to talk to to get a straight answer?
Erin Reply:
July 27th, 2009 at 11:53 pm
@Ivy I think all the autograph signings at the Con were really frustrating. The fact that they would not let us officially form a line was maddening, as well as the fact that every person at the booth seemed to have a different answer, and every few minutes an Elite guard would walk around a make us move. I was so worried that I was going to miss out by simply not being one of those aggressive people who pushes and shoves. Hey I was wondering though, do you have any more pictures from the autograph signing? I don’t have any, save one with Zach and I thought from where you were, you might have some with me in them! I was about the 15th person to go through and was wearing a green t-sheet with Yoda on it (which Zach complimented!!
)
I love everyone’s stories and I agree whole-heartedly that they are the nicest performers and completely sincere in their appreciation of their fans which just makes it that much more fun to simply adore them all!
Ivy Reply:
July 28th, 2009 at 12:21 am
I have a pictures up on my facebook. I have one of a girl (with a green shirt but no clue if it has yoda on it) and a pony tail… could that be you?
I just took a bunch of pics until my camera totally gave up on me. At one point I got Adam to stop and look at my camera but the damn thing wouldn’t go off. I think I need a new camera.
Erin Reply:
July 28th, 2009 at 12:34 am
@Ivy I did have my hair in a ponytail, so that might be me….do you mind friending me on Facebook? I would love to be able to see the pictures!
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=46300400&ref=profile
Thanks so much!!
My Chuck SDCC experience goes back to when they first promoted the show there. Before the dreaded WB tower booth there was a smaller booth with a large poster of Zach & Yvonne in her spy duds. I said to myself I gotta get in this signing line! Zach and some of the creators were there but Yvonne had stepped away when my turn came in line so I totally missed hers. Flash forward to the following year where the show has a fan base and the entire freakin cast is signing at the WB tower on big screens. Nothing worse than looking up at those large screens seeing the signing already underway and knowing Ill never get to be in it! I was shut out again! Finally this year I knew there was going to be another signing and depending on how the show does I may not get the chance again. So its Fri and I buy an 8 x 10 of Yvonne just in case. Then by chance later on Im outside of the con and see Yvonne walking towards the convention center for most likely a press event. Well I take out my photo and run after her hoping she would sign! She does and I finally get my autogrph! The next day as Sat rolls around I show up to the WB booth thinking Im in time for a spot in the auto session, but alas shut out again! It would have been nice to get pics with the cast but die hard fans just beat me to the punch! At least I got my auto! Yeah!!
cotton Reply:
July 28th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Mark, you are totally lucky!! I wished I got to see Yvonne outside, but I did get a chance to meet her at the Chuck signing and yes, it was a mad house. LOL She and the whole entire cast were so nice. It was totally awesome and well worth the wait in line (camping out AND waiting for the signings to begin).
@Erin, is that you?!?! The girl that I got to hang out with during the signing?!?! LOL What a small world!!! It’s Carol (the Chinese girl with her cousin that we were playing the piggy game with among others). It was so great seeing you (if that is you) and hanging out for a bit and sharing the lovely Chuck experience.
Erin Reply:
July 28th, 2009 at 11:18 pm
Yes it is me!! How funny! Thank you so much indulging me in my silly line-waiting games
It was really great to get to go through that crazy experience with other people who were just as excited to be there as I was! I’ve been having fun catching up on all the Chuck stuff we missed because we were in line–I would have loved to see JEFFSTER in person, but since I had a whole conversation with Vik and Scott about it I guess it worked out for the best 
Let’s do it again in 2010, k? 
cotton Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
LOL Erin!! That is so fantastic that you and I share the same sites. LOL Yes, 2010 is a definite and I wished I got to talk to them, but I became a bumbling idiot when in front of them. Josh Schwartz was totally cool with me and chatting with me while Yvonne wished me a happy birthday and I did wish her one as well and even gave her a card. Ryan was very cool and told me not to get flustered with the camera as I was trying to get it to take a darn picture. I gave some of the guys (Zach, Yvonne, Josh Gomez, Vik, Scott, and Adam) “poo” pins and they were so awesome about it even though the security guys probably wanted to kill me. Next time, I’ll be more prepared. LOL
Sorry, what are “poo” pins?
cotton Reply:
August 2nd, 2009 at 5:13 am
Hey Michael, the “poo” pins were little “poo poo” buttons that I had purchased at a vendor booth a day before and they had little poo people like Smarty Poo (that was for Zach), Grumpy Poo (for Adam), Poo-Quito (for Josh Gomez), Cutey Poo (for Yvonne), Party Poo (for Vik) and Stinky Poo (for Scott). I tried to give the poo pins to the characters that the pins resembled. Of course the pack only contained 6 so I was only able to give out to 6 of the people. Next time, if there is a next time, I will be more prepared for all of them. LOL Hope that answers your question.
I was the last one in line before they cut it off….it was crazy!! , my son and I got 2 posters and my season 1 dvd signed…it was great!!
My son had a chuck/zachery levi cut out that I made into a “action figure” and zachery levi told me that it was officially his first ever action figure….awesome!
cotton Reply:
August 2nd, 2009 at 5:16 am
Andrew, you are so lucky. I gave my Season 1 DVD insert to Yvonne in her card so I hope that she signs it along with the rest of the cast. I did get the signed poster that I will never part with (although some people are seriously selling the posters on eBay). The good thing about Chuck being on the panel and being so accessible to fans is the fact that I had a friend who went to the panel to see True Blood and came out a Chuck fan because she said that hands down, the Chuck panel was by far the best panel that she had seen. It was great to hear that from her because in my head, I’m thinking 1 more convert! LOL
Sorry for babbling, but great job to you and your son for getting that cut out. I would love to see it. LOL
I was able to go the Chuck panel and the Chuck signing at The WB booth. It was really crazy!!! The sad thing is my camera broke on me , but luckily we found someone to take a picture with my mom, Zach, Josh, and I. It was the coolest experience ever!!! I got the poster and I am glad I was able to ask Zac a question at the TV Guide Panel and able to ask another question at the Chuck panel. This is like the coolest experience I ever had! And BTW, I am keeping my Chuck autograph poster.