WIL WHEATON dot NET

50,000 Monkeys at 50,000 Typewriters Can't Be Wrong

After twenty years, I finally got to say this.

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A lot of incredible and wonderful things happened at the Calgary Expo this weekend, and when I'm not as exhausted I'll write about all of them.

Until then, though, here is one of them that I really hope you'll spend 5 minutes watching:

 

If you can't see the video, you can watch it right here at YouTube.

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1 May, 2012 Wil

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Google is making a huge and annoying mistake. → ← Why are you saying it that way?

137 thoughts on “After twenty years, I finally got to say this.”

  1. Doclizz says:
    1 May, 2012 at 1:55 pm

    This was truly moving, Wil. Thank you for posting.

  2. Kris Horton says:
    1 May, 2012 at 1:57 pm

    Beautifully said, Wil, and you’ve guaranteed that I will forever regret missing the Calgary Expo.

  3. Frank Bergdoll says:
    1 May, 2012 at 2:01 pm

    You know … I’m not one of your long-time, love everything you did, back in the day fans. In fact, to some extent – I’m more of a casual observer rather than a true die-hard fan of Star Trek.
    However, I really must say that things like this and the whole new-era of your career has made me become a fan of yours.
    It was nice to (sort of) meet you in Calgary (as much as getting a photo can be said to be “meeting”), I really enjoy your BLOG and the thoughts therein. Your appearances on Big Bang and The Guild are a lot of fun.
    It’s really nice to see a genuine moment like this one at Star Trek EXPOsed.

  4. Mike Haakstad says:
    1 May, 2012 at 2:04 pm

    It was really cool to see you in person dude.
    I hope you got my Baby Sparks McGhee picture email!

  5. Factoid says:
    1 May, 2012 at 2:10 pm

    Well done on that hug from Marina Sirtis. Teenage me is extremely jealous.

  6. Jenbacca says:
    1 May, 2012 at 2:17 pm

    this was an amazing moment. Feel lucky to have been there in person 🙂

  7. AmandaPike01 says:
    1 May, 2012 at 2:19 pm

    That was incredibly sweet, so glad you finally got a chance to say it.
    Also, I was overtook by the sweetness of Frakes kissing your head.

  8. WaywardGoddess says:
    1 May, 2012 at 2:19 pm

    It’s really dusty in my house…damn allergies…..

  9. Simon Davison says:
    1 May, 2012 at 2:25 pm

    A huge personal insight on your relationship with the TNG cast. Thank you for sharing and being so open about it. I’m bummed I couldn’t attend.

  10. Daireen says:
    1 May, 2012 at 2:32 pm

    OK, I’ve listened to Levar about 8 times now, and I *still* cannot hear what he’s saying that was so funny. -_-
    Otherwise, so sweet!

  11. Wil says:
    1 May, 2012 at 2:34 pm

    I got it, and I love it! May I share it on the Internets?

  12. A Facebook User says:
    1 May, 2012 at 2:35 pm

    I’m not usually one to comment on blogs, though I have been reading your blog, Wil, since I was an awkward 17 year-old (I am now a less-awkward 25 year-old), and am a huge fan of TNG, so this video made my heart so happy for you and brought tears to my eyes. Completely awesome.

  13. Beth says:
    1 May, 2012 at 2:37 pm

    If you will excuse me, I think I got something in both my eyes…

  14. Emily says:
    1 May, 2012 at 2:48 pm

    I hate it when you make me cry at work!

  15. Kristine says:
    1 May, 2012 at 2:54 pm

    Oh Wil, you made me cry! That was entirely heartwarming, and I’m so glad that you got the chance to say that out loud when with the cast. It also reconfirms for me that I MUST see you live next time you are in my area.

  16. A Facebook User says:
    1 May, 2012 at 2:57 pm

    Was a great moment that evening, but you aught to have included the preceding debate in which you Pooooooowned Aaron Douglass (sorry Chief, it’s true).

  17. Putting_On_Airs says:
    1 May, 2012 at 2:59 pm

    There are all kinds of families and some of us are lucky to be part of more than one. You are fortunate, Wil, to be able to say you are part of the TNG family. Just like all of us you went through some growing pains – but the love is still there when you go home again.

  18. Jenn Davis says:
    1 May, 2012 at 3:05 pm

    ~Wil
    What you finally got to say took balls. I’m glad you have made peace with your Wesley. That said- I cannot believe how well everyone from TNG has aged!

  19. Kim Parrott says:
    1 May, 2012 at 3:10 pm

    *dusty in here*
    Fan then, bigger fan now. Excuse me while I wipe my eyes. Thanks for sharing this.

  20. Wrenaria says:
    1 May, 2012 at 3:22 pm

    And the Internets heart grew three sizes that day….
    Thanks for sharing that, Wil. <3

  21. Mike Haakstad says:
    1 May, 2012 at 3:26 pm

    Please do, that was the point!

  22. Drillslinger says:
    1 May, 2012 at 3:46 pm

    Yeah, I think I got a little of that dust in my eye too.
    Thanks for sharing that with us.

  23. MisterB46 says:
    1 May, 2012 at 3:49 pm

    I know this isn’t entirely true, but…
    “I never had any fellow actors later on, like the ones I had when I was eighteen…Jesus….does anyone?”
    I just watched the entire panel through YouTube and it was the first time since the 1988 Winter Olympics that I wished I were in Calgary at a particular point in time — and I’ve talked to you at two different Emerald City ComicCons.
    I miss the series more because of you and the rest of the cast than because of the stories — and there were quite a few unforgettable stories.

  24. Thefred70 says:
    1 May, 2012 at 4:09 pm

    The good thing about home and family, is you can always go back.

  25. Drillslinger says:
    1 May, 2012 at 4:38 pm

    I think an experience like Wil’s makes one appreciate that bond/sense of family even more.

  26. Daniel Watkins says:
    1 May, 2012 at 5:10 pm

    The whole TNG: Exposed video is on youtube, in 5 videos. Here is part 1:

  27. Don_newman says:
    1 May, 2012 at 5:20 pm

    You apologized for being a kid. Having made the same mistakes of being a kid as we all do, you took the responsibility and owned it. In doing so you show you were less of a kid than we mistook you for and I wish more adults would act as grown up as that.

  28. Brandon Reevey says:
    1 May, 2012 at 5:21 pm

    hey — i never learned THAT word on Reading Rainbow!

  29. Laurie A. Garner says:
    1 May, 2012 at 5:54 pm

    Awesome to hear these words from you and to see that your former castmembers love you as much as we do. Well done, Will. Bravo!
    @Brandon: my thoughts exactly! 😉

  30. www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1456357258 says:
    1 May, 2012 at 5:57 pm

    Well said. But even if you were “just a kid” on that show, I must say I feel new empathy and respect for your professionalism then, now that they’ve released a 1080p still of Wesley’s orange sweater and we can see more pixels of what you saw when you got to work in the morning. http://trekmovie.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/24080_STTNG_S1_Still_3_1080.jpg

  31. C says:
    1 May, 2012 at 5:57 pm

    Amazing how life is sometimes. wow. I’m so glad you got that opportunity. 🙂

  32. ang says:
    1 May, 2012 at 6:02 pm

    amen

  33. Empyress says:
    1 May, 2012 at 6:02 pm

    I got to see your earlier panel that day, and you guys are great on stage. Thank you for sharing yourself with all of us strangers.

  34. ang says:
    1 May, 2012 at 6:02 pm

    Nicely done, Wheaton. Welcome home.

  35. sarchix says:
    1 May, 2012 at 6:07 pm

    I love what you said about leaving the show. I was upset that you did leave. You were a “friend” that left me while I was a geeky teen. You were a part of me that go to be on the Enterprise and I was envious of Wesley. I think your words at the Con were completely perfect and thank you for them.
    And thank you to the rest of the cast who still look with so much love. Thank you for sharing that moment for those who could not be there.
    Wish you could be at the con in Cherry Hill this weekend and …. GO FLYERS!!!

  36. Clinton the Trekkie says:
    1 May, 2012 at 6:33 pm

    Seeing you with the entire TNG family back on stage was almost beyond words.
    I was also very excited that you realized who I was. LOL
    It was fantastic to see you in Calgary; I hope you will be invited back to the Expo.
    @clinton_o

  37. Amanda Miller says:
    1 May, 2012 at 7:27 pm

    Great video! I couldn’t get tickets for the panel on Saturday night, but I was able to get your autograph on Friday. I also saw you at the Calgary airport on Monday morning. You were incredibly gracious when I went up to talk to you. I just wanted to say thank you for being so nice – meeting you totally made my weekend!!

  38. Eastpath says:
    1 May, 2012 at 7:27 pm

    I love this. This is great. And no kidding, from the very first little bit of the video the 2 girls behind the guy from Battlestar (one in blue uniform with glasses, the other in red uniform, with glasses. I KNOW THEM 😀 That was so cool to see in this video. Wil you rock and this video rocks cuz I know people in it! LOL 😀

  39. TheTubaGeek says:
    1 May, 2012 at 7:32 pm

    Wil,
    That was a thoroughly wonderful moment, and the best part was seeing Patrick, Jonathan, Mirina, and Gates all show their genuine love and admiration for you as both an actor and a person.
    Also, I saw what you did there after (finally?) getting a kiss from Mirina. 🙂

  40. Angelamonkey says:
    1 May, 2012 at 7:44 pm

    TNG Exposed was such a great experience! I got goosebumps at least four times! This was one of them, it really did make me a bigger fan of you and the rest of the cast more than I was.

  41. LiteraryLattes says:
    1 May, 2012 at 7:58 pm

    Dear Wil. You, the cast of TNG, and the show itself will always have a special place in my heart. Watching you reflect on that time made me think of my dad who died 10 years ago. We always watched the show together, as well as had many good times scouring comic book stores and toy stores for TNG toys, action figures, and other Trekkie memorabilia. Thank you for sharing.

  42. Sarah Detzel says:
    1 May, 2012 at 8:04 pm

    Ok, so at the risk of being the super-annoying fangirl (feel free to stop reading):
    I was 4 when TNG premiered. I remember watching it. It’s one of my first memories, ridiculously enough. Well that and wheelbarrow rides.
    I would watch episodes when I could, but they were on after my evening tv time was up (unless my mother was in a particularly kind mood) until my 6th birthday, which happened towards the end of Season 2. I was a weird kid. I’m still a weird grownup. I’m lucky enough as an adult to have found friends that are just as goofy as me, and my family may not get me, but they love me.
    But when I was 6, I had my family…and Star Trek. And that ridiculous dream of being in StarFleet (and God help someone who told me I couldn’t).
    This is literally the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. It took a long time for me to be not mad at you. When you left Star Trek, I felt betrayed. Like the boy that was cool enough to be doing the things that I could only splash about in the bathtub pretending to do when I was 4…didn’t want to do them. Eventually, I got to the point when I was about 20, and had been a total b*tch for the past 5 years and realized it, that I was like, “Dude. He was 18.” And then I read “Just a Geek.” Which pretty much sealed the fact that you get to be on my “hero” list, no matter how fucking ‘grownup’ I get.
    I am totally babbling, but…if I love you as a fan all of these years (in a totally respectful of your space non stalking way…not that you’ll believe that after this post)…how strange would it be for people who knew you and loved you in real life to not even more readily accept you and want you back in their life.
    You are, as ever, a human. Which makes you nifty.
    Anyway…
    *insert detached snarky comment so that I don’t sound like a crazy person* Crap…too late.

  43. mimi~ says:
    1 May, 2012 at 8:11 pm

    Aw, so sweet! I said the other day that teenagers shouldn’t have access to Facebook so the dumb things they say/do aren’t plastered on a public forum. I’m sorry the decision you made at 19 was bigger than some of the decisions we had to make as kids, and that it haunted you for so long. You are a good person, wil.

  44. Camstandring says:
    1 May, 2012 at 8:13 pm

    I’ve never actually seen TNG (at first I never got around to it, but now I’m explicitly waiting for the remastered Blu-rays). Which apparently is no barrier to this video giving me the warm fuzzies. Yes, ALL of them.

  45. Jellison23 says:
    1 May, 2012 at 8:37 pm

    I loved that so much! It makes me wish I was there! Your story is such a great one.,
    Which is why I’ve loved your blog. I tried to explain it to my husband
    But unfortunately he’s only 5% nerd and worries someone will hear he
    Watched a clip about a TNG convention; it’s a mixed marriage.

  46. Alicia De Kop says:
    1 May, 2012 at 9:16 pm

    Ah Levar, expanding our vocabularies even now… 😀 Though seriously, I want to know what Marina said. But I’m nosy.

  47. wabbit89 says:
    1 May, 2012 at 10:10 pm

    So glad you got to experience this, Wil. What a lovely homecoming. *teary-eyed salute*
    And hats off to Levar for proving once again that he has a most expansive vocabulary. *laughs*

  48. Gregg Barnes says:
    1 May, 2012 at 11:03 pm

    Wil, that was great! It brought a tear to my eye! Ive heard you talk with love and respect about your former castmates before, but this was the best of them all. It is great that they still accept you as one of the crew. Apologizing for the mistakes of our youth is hard, but you did it, and your peers accepted it like pros. What a lucky man you are to have such amazing friends!

  49. Jason Hackwith says:
    2 May, 2012 at 1:00 am

    Thanks so much for posting this. It’s so neat to see the genuine love between you and the rest of the cast. Thanks for being who you are.

  50. Patricia Lopez says:
    2 May, 2012 at 1:18 am

    That was a very touching moment with that being said Man you’re freaken AWESOME!!! It’s because of you I feel comfortable being geeky. Okay! Just had to say that carry on!

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