This was shot by my friend Rich, presumably while I was driving home from Comic-Con. This video is awesome, but it makes me sad because it reminds me of one of the best things ever about working on TNG (Jonathan Frakes breaking into show tunes at random intervals) and it reminds me that I saw Jonathan at Comic-Con, but I couldn’t get close enough to him to say hello.
You know, the worst part of being excluded from the Vegas con is that I’m missing the once-a-year opportunity to see some people I really like (and miss) who live very, very far away.
Yeah, he is totally rad. Thanks for sharing this. And again, that majorly sucks about Vegas. π Who do I go yell at? Because I’ll totally go bash some heads for ya.
That has to be what I respect most about the cast of the show; they’re all good people when the cameras are off. Levar is a great advocate for education, you’re a promoter of science, Patrick is all about the arts, and Frakes is, well, Frakes I guess.
I’ve never had the opportunity to meet you or any of the other cast members, though I can say without shame that it’s a lifelong goal of mine. But I can’t imagine having worked with these people for so many years- people that I admire and respect not simply because of the characters they portray- only to have to scatter across the world again after it’s all over. I’d be lighting up Frakes’ cell phone just to bug him.
BWAHAHA brilliant! I love the glint in his eyes, the mischievous smile as well. My fiance has the exact same smile and glint and you know its trouble coming LOL
I loved it when he busted into the Hilton demanding his startrek stuff back.
I agree with what you said Wil about the Hilton Startrek experience being so realistic. I was impressed and I wasn’t even that big of a fan of the show π
I’m enjoying your twitter’s π
I wish someone would make a show for that guy. I miss seeing him.
*sighs* At least you got to GO to Comic-Con…
Still, I’m pissed on your behalf that the Vegas people told you “Do Not Want.” To quote my favorite comedic band, The Doug Anthony All Stars: What a pack of wankers!
My husband was one of the grips who worked on TNG, so I got to go to the final wrap party at Union Station. I had never met Levar offset before, and since I work in education, I wanted to talk privately to him. He took my hand, and held it as we talked. Over his shoulder, I could see Jonathan approaching from behind Levar. He put his index finger to his lips with a shhhh motion, then proceeded to nuzzle Levar’s ear with his bearded mouth. Levar’s hand tightened on mine. He turned, they hugged and my moment was over. But it was funny, seeing Levar’s eyes widen as a bearded man nuzzled him unseen. The friendship was very evident. -Meg
You know, I was always a Spiner fan (we went to the same college, you know). I think I mentioned a few years ago, though, that I met Frakes on a flight across the country. He was the most generous celebrity I had ever met and allowed me to bother him for an autograph on the plane. He was really cool about it.
In a world where lots of celebrities are complete douchebags, I’m really happy there are some folks who remember the people who support their ventures by buying their DVDs, watching their shows, etc.
Wil, whether or not you regularly talk to him, your friends would ALWAYS welcome a phone call from you. You should pick up the phone and dial (310) W-T-RIKER and say hello.
I still have the biggest crush on him. Wish he was back on TV…somewhere. le sigh.
::Writes down…::
(310) W-T-RIKER
Man, why can’t I meet Frakes on a plane. I used to live in downtown Chicago and would run into celebrities all the time, but no one I actually cared about seeing. I’ve given up hopes on running into Stewart; his European endeavors make that even less likely. But why couldn’t I ever bump into Levar or Dorn in the subway???
Huh? I thought I followed this blog pretty closely. Excluded from the vegas con? Anyone have a link that explains?
Frakes gets bonus points from me for knowing the lyrics to an old Fats Waller tune. Well done, Jonathan!
@viewer3 – Frakes on a Plane? Was Samuel L Jackson in that?
I always heard Frakes was great. I had friends who were close to Melinda Snodgrass and visited her on the set once. They said Frakes made a point to chat with the set visitors and was very nice to them (he commented when taking off his robe and putting on the uniform top “I’m very sorry you have to see this LOL”).
@Wil: _used_ to be cool? You don’t think he’s cool anymore?
@Viewer3: Frakes on a plane eh? I hope that doesn’t involve Sam Jackson kicking his ass π
@Viewer3: “Frakes on a plane” is my cool phrase of the day, now. Hawesome.
Frakes on a Plane does star Jackson, but Frakes just beats him down thoroughly and gives him a lecture on the ethics of piloting a starship and/or plane. Rated R(iker).
Yeah I saw Jonathan Frakes at his Comic-Con booth too, but wow there were some jerks running it. They kept yelling at people to put away their camera and shoved people around. It was really a shame.
Please tell me you saw the shirt that was for sale near the Dumbrella booth of C-3PO and Data making out?
It was awesome to see you at Comic-Con, photos to come on Twitter!
Yeah I saw Jonathan Frakes at his Comic-Con booth too, but wow there were some jerks running it. They kept yelling at people to put away their camera and shoved people around. It was really a shame.
Please tell me you saw the shirt that was for sale near the Dumbrella booth of C-3PO and Data making out?
It was awesome to see you at Comic-Con, photos to come on Twitter!
That is cool. I did theater as a kid through college and I remember the fun and camaraderie involved in being in a cast. I’m sure it was nothing quite as exciting as you had, Wil but I do miss it sometimes.
@extole: Wil mentioned it a few days ago and more or less said he couldn’t/wouldn’t discuss it further.
@Sukotto: It’s a running joke. Check out “beyond the rim of the starlight” in Happiest Days for more.
@extole: Wil mentioned it a few days ago and more or less said he couldn’t/wouldn’t discuss it further.
@Sukotto: It’s a running joke. Check out “beyond the rim of the starlight” in Happiest Days for more.
Argh. Sorry for the double double post post.
Darn it! It now says “this video is no longer available”.
I knew i should have checked here earlier.
i never liked that song before this moment.
Wil, I’m sorry you missed touching base with Mr. Frakes and were on the road instead of at his show. Of course, I had to look at some of the related videos and appreciated “Romance Lessons from Star Trek” starring our own Uncle Willie being subjected to a faux sexually-tensioned conversation between Riker and Guinan. It is quite enjoyable, and Wil’s fine work as the straight-man only makes it that much better.
Just curious…who runs the Vegas Trek Con…Creation? Because even in the 1980s those Creation guys were futzing up the con experience for thousands of people around the country…they have decades worth of experience at that π
I only went to 2 or 3 of their cons in the Washington DC area…the last one Stan Lee was invited to and they treated him like crap. I’ve never been high on comic books (I prefer sci-fi films, TV shows and books) but after their all too apparent rudeness to that god of comics plus the unknown-to-me-til-I-got-to-the-con revelation that George Takei (their one Star Trek guest and my one reason for attending) wasn’t going to be at the con I was done with them. No Internet/cell phones (or for that matter TNG) back then so there were a lot of us who were disappointed upon arrival especially when we found out the con organizers had known about no George being there for over a week. They couldn’t have sent out a postcard to tell us?!?!
Suddenly I realized that Creation didn’t need my $$$ and I didn’t need their BS. At that con I gathered up a lot of business cards from the out of town dealers in the dealers’ room, put myself on mailing lists for their catalogs and sales letters and stopped doing the con thing. I don’t feel like I’ve missed all that much.
Sorry you and Frakes missed bumping into one another, even for a quick hello. That must have been disappointing but in a crowd of 125,000 people it was a distinct possibility. Too many people for my tastes, thanks.
And it reminds me that I saw you and Jonathan sometime in the late 80’s or early 90’s at an amusement park in Kansas City, doing a Q&A tour type thing. π
Why don’t you just go?
Go see star trek experience one last time.
few hands of poker.
dude. its Vegas.
People are the real gifts in life. My own fondest and happiest moments have been defined by the people who entered onto my life’s play. Some for a single act, others for several.
Nothing else comes close to defining what my life has been.
Glen,
As Wil has said previously, he is working as hard as he can to pay tuition for his son(s), along with the regular things like putting food on his family, so he really doesn’t have the disposable income to make the Vegas trek unless there is a chance he can do it as a professional (e.g. make some sales and get his expenses covered).
And don’t worry W, Frakes knows you used ot be cool too. π
Totally off topic but I just wanted to let you know that you are “Today’s Reason to Drink” off of my iGoogle webpage. It says ” July 29, 2008- Another synthehol, barkeep! Today is the birthday of Wil Wheaton, the actor who played Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation.”
Wil, I dunno if you read PVPOnline… but Scott Kurtz posted another take on that evening, also with some great video. http://www.pvponline.com/2008/07/29/stewards-of-the-moment/
(I can’t seem to link-ify that.. guess either you don’t allow links, or I’m a dumbass)
It looks like Frakes was enjoying himself. I can see why you miss it.
They can’t exclude you from the convention if you go on your own. You’re just as much of a geek as us. You should just go as a civilian.
Frakes is awesome!
it’s sad that time goes by and the people who used to be such a part of your life… just aren’t there anymore. It’s something I lament all the time *whiney myspace blogs, crappy deviant art poems…* maybe they’ll see the light next year and include you at Vegas so you can reconnect with some people.
Ok wait… back up the train. What do you mean you were “excluded” from the Vegas Con?!?!?!?! WTF! I met you there last summer and you were a hit! And I don’t mean that lightly!! ARGGG. If I had the money to go again I would have gone again this year, but alas I didn’t. Now I’m glad I’m not there in protest against you not being invited!! I hope they come to their senses and invite you back again next year.
On the TNG sightings tip, I was at a party with Michael Dorn this weekend. He was not singing show tunes. I MAY have been. No video available.
Frakes on a plane. Haha. Well i hope that if i’m ever on a longhaul plane and in the inflight entertainment breaks down that Johnny boy is there to belt out some show tunes for me.
I contacted “Creation Entertainment” early in June when I realised that Wil was not in the line up for the Vegas Con.
Someone did e-mail me back saying that “it was unlikely that Wil would be on hand this year” or words to that effect.
However, what that says to me is that they DO read e-mails.
I would encourage folks to contact Creation individually to say that you would like to see Wil there in the future. And, if you are going to the Vegas con, mention this to any PTB that you see.
Wil. Maybe you could Iron out any problems with Creation, to secure an early agreement to be at next years convention?
I was really hoping to see you this year at Vegas. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for conventions next year.
I love that the video has Tycho (Jerry Holkins of Penny Arcade) in it. He talks about seeing this in his newspost today. Apparently Avery Brooks also took a turn at the piano!
Is that a dead horse? Let me get out my beating stick…
Guess who came to DragonCon last year? Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden and … Brent Spiner (and John de Lancie, too). If only you had been there, you could have hung out with them ALL weekend.
Just thought I’d point out, because it tickled me so, that you can see Tycho from Penny Arcade there in the foreground for a sec. He happened to talk about being in that bar on PA today (www.penny-arcade.com)
~Trav
*Penny Arcade created and hosts PAX, for which Wil did the keynote last year.
I am listening to the audio version of “Just a Geek” right now and I just got the joke in the subject line of this blog post. I am getting caught up in understanding the inside jokes here hehe.
By the way I am really enjoying the audio book Wil. Great job!
Hi Wil – great stuff man! My wife and I met you at the Trek Convention in Las Vegas. Sat in on your reading of “The Naked Now” review and other stories like “Blue Light Special” and such.. it was one of, if not the highlight of our time there – Got a signed copy of the Space Oddities (I believe it was #36 of 200 or something like that) It is currently up in my room here at the Waikiki Banyon in Hawaii where we are on Vacation. I’ve enjoyed coming down to the coffee shop and reading through your blogs a bit and currently reading The Happiest Days of our Lives before the family gets up and gets ready for the day. Speaking of, it’s about that time to go up and crack the whip – I love what you’re doing and it was a real pleasure to meet you.. Aloha!