Yesterday, I wrote about the scary nature of facing the world outside of what I guess we’ll call “your safety bubble.”
At least that’s what I was trying to write about. YMMV.
I also promised to talk about why Creation cut me from their 15th anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation convention, and why I think it’s a good thing.
To understand the events leading up to the cut, it’s important to understand the realities of the Star Trek Convention (and all SF conventions, really): There was a time, long ago, when these cons existed by and for fans. They were places where fans could get together, safely dress up in costumes, debate the minutae of scripts, and generally geek out amongst friends without fear of The Jocks showing up.
Some folks realized that they could turn this phenomenon into a working business, and for better or worse, Creation was born.
For years, I had a great relationship with Creation. When I was a kid, I attended the Fangoria Weekend of Horrors shows at the Ambassador hotel. When I was on TNG, I appeared as a speaker at countless Creation conventions.
Then I had a not-so-great relationship with them for awhile. I felt that they had become the 800 pound gorilla in the convention world. They were the only kid on the block who had that cool football that all the other kids wanted to play with, and without any real competition, they charged too much, and I felt that the fans were increasingly getting the shaft.
Not the cool Richard Roundtree Shaft, either, so you can just shut your mouth right now.
In retrospect, there were many factors contributing to what I would describe as the decline and fall of the convention experience, and I think the guests need to be at the top of that list.
I never made very large speaking fees, even when I was A Big Deal
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Wil,
Make em, make em, make em respect you.
I didn’t know anything about the con game until I read the posts here. Now I know you did the right thing by:
1. Trying to negotiate
2. Giving the finger
In that order.
You stood up to the freakin bullies. Now they can’t pat themselves on the back for makin you suck up.
And F Star Trek and Paramount, too. What show once had brilliant social commentary disguised as kid-TV (with at least passable science) now just panders to an audience that’s mostly afraid to miss some detail of the Treknoverse.
And Tasha Yar got to come back in a popular way, with a real role and a real script (yesterdays enterprise). Wesley could be ressurected at any time in a way that fans would appreciate, so F them for stringing poor Wil along, until he wised up.
Even Technobabble used to be fun as a launch point for learning real physics. Until tetrion radiation was invented. And whatever particle of the moment saved the ship by clouding somebody’s freakin sensors. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Prefix Code.
So I stopped watching Trek. Never saw an episode of Enterprise. Might not see the next movie. Cause I grew up, and I don’t care any more.
I like to come to Wil’s site and read his blogs. That’s a little more real for me.
I agree with Janis — quit looking back.
I agree with richestdeadcelebrity — move on, and tell your sad sad story not so much. Tell about Wil movin’ on.
I first came to this site because my bud told me to look and see how pathetic Wil Wheaton had become. Now I come back each day to see how Wil Weaton tries to do what’s right, mostly. And I like that damn “mostly.”
Wil, you don’t give a crap about who I am, but I am glad to care about what happens to you.
Later.
Wil,
Make em, make em, make em respect you.
I didn’t know anything about the con game until I read the posts here. Now I know you did the right thing by:
1. Trying to negotiate
2. Giving the finger
In that order.
You stood up to the freakin bullies. Now they can’t pat themselves on the back for makin you suck up.
And F Star Trek and Paramount, too. What show once had brilliant social commentary disguised as kid-TV (with at least passable science) now just panders to an audience that’s mostly afraid to miss some detail of the Treknoverse.
And Tasha Yar got to come back in a popular way, with a real role and a real script (yesterdays enterprise). Wesley could be ressurected at any time in a way that fans would appreciate, so F them for stringing poor Wil along, until he wised up.
Even Technobabble used to be fun as a launch point for learning real physics. Until tetrion radiation was invented. And whatever particle of the moment saved the ship by clouding somebody’s freakin sensors. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Prefix Code.
So I stopped watching Trek. Never saw an episode of Enterprise. Might not see the next movie. Cause I grew up, and I don’t care any more.
I like to come to Wil’s site and read his blogs. That’s a little more real for me.
I agree with Janis — quit looking back.
I agree with richestdeadcelebrity — move on, and tell your sad sad story not so much. Tell about Wil movin’ on.
I first came to this site because my bud told me to look and see how pathetic Wil Wheaton had become. Now I come back each day to see how Wil Weaton tries to do what’s right, mostly. And I like that damn “mostly.”
Wil, you don’t give a crap about who I am, but I am glad to care about what happens to you.
Later.
Sometimes you just have to stand up for what you believe in. Creation smells. You’re better than that. If they come back to their senses, you can do more conventions then. In the meantime, I’ll see you wherever you perform in the L.A. area. Just let us WWDN fans know.
Scott
🙂
hey wil…
i’m not to savvy on conventions…i’ve never been to one, and unfortunately i wasnt around when you did star trek, so i couldnt watch it, or wouldnt understand any of your future cons. Although, i would love it if there were ever just a con, about you inparticular…or maybe whats left of the cast of STAND BY ME! i am still in love with that movie…sigh. its kind of funny though, that you are a very good writer now, and in the movie, your adult was a writer also! ^ ^ anyways, i live in florida, so any cons there, would be extremely nicE! and dont underestimate yourself!! i would be willing to pay good money to see you do one!!
best wishes and prayers,
sara , [email protected]
hey space cadet “Wil is human, like you and me and he expresses a lot of uncertainties that all of us go through in life at one time or another” when you said that i was obvious to me you didnt get my post, will seems to have one uncertainty that he goes through in life over and over again, and he writes about it tons of times, just using different words.
he has two underlying problems, he thinks he was a bigger star than he was and he cant let go of wesly.
the proof of this is that he cant write a post without mentioning that he doesnt need wesly or star trek, and that he keeps mentioning how fucking popular he used to be (btw he was never even a houshold name) anyway, i wasnt really trying to insult him, just point out that he hasnt had one original post on here in months he just keeps recycling this angst over no being wesly and not being on star trek not being a working actor and bla bla bla,
i was just saying id like to read a post where will doesnt talk about how he doesnt need startrek or where he doesnt talk about how famous he used to be, or where he isnt so fucking self depreciateing in a passive aggressive way.
whatever, as long as you jack asses keep buying into it there is no reason for him to stop.
How is James frickin Cromwell more apart of the ST “family” than you are? He did one movie and you were in 4 seasons of the show? OMG unbeleivable. And I’m quite sure you weren’t asking for some outragious amount of money for you and your groups services. Bah, you’re better off without them, although the fan base suffers for their greed.
Well, I normally don’t comment in strangers’ logs, and though I’ve been reading it for some time, that doesn’t make me a known entity.
I just wanted to tell you that I agree whole heartedly with how you handled yourself, Wil. Integrity is the bottom line, and you know your own value. The Con-peeps clearly do not have their finger on a pulse that beats, and whether you are part of the Trek family or not, it will be their loss.
Everyone must come to terms with their own development, and we all pass through stages in our lives. Perhaps by this exclusion you will be stepping into a new and better stage. Maybe this is telling you that you do not need the support of a Trek Family to keep you standing.
Speaking as a starving artist (a far worse state than being a starving student), I am looking forward to leaving the stage of life that I am in and moving on into one that will promote my own growth. I am hindered where I am and as circumstances crop up that make me doubt myself and lose hope, others grab me when I least expect and draw me away from the hurt and fear. There is no one from whom I will accept a value but myself, and when I am undervalued I am pushed to prove my worth.
You go. See you on the next stage.
Wil, you have more class in your big toe than just about anyone else that’s ever been associated with the Star Trek franchise. You also have something that most of them are still desperately searching for — a real life.
Most people, when they watch ‘Galaxy Quest’, take away the message that they should make the best of their situation and not regret their past. You apparently took the same message, at least for a while, but look at what you really got.
Yeah.
Regret is normal. Regret is healthy. Regret is our built-in alert system, telling us that we must -break- with the past and move on.
Sure, the other TNG cast members may still be big on the convention circuit, but what else do they really have? The simple fact that they got roped into doing Yet Another Trek Movie should be a huge warning to them, but… *shrug*
The paycheck isn’t everything. You’re discovering a whole new career in writing and activism, and you’re meeting a whole new fanbase who genuinely likes you as Wil rather merely tolerates you as Wesley.
Walk tall, man. Your life is just beginning.
PS: I hate Creation, too. The pre-Creation cons for Farscape were legendary. Now they’re a joke. Not even the cast shows up anymore.
Jesus. You are a seriously great writer, Wil. This was incredibly good.
GREEDY SELFISH STINKING BASTARDS IS WHAT THEY ARE!
I think I’ll call in a bomb threat the day of the con!
good for you wil:) good karma in this.
Hey Wil
I have to say that I have a whole host of things to say but most are not directed at you except to say way to go! I can not believe that the asshole would say what he did to you. Who the hell is this guy that he thinks you are not a part of the TNG family. Thats like saying I am not a part of my family. I always knew that those conventions were bullshit events and this just proves it to me. I must be angry because I usually can write about a subject without all the profanity, but of all the idiotic things for someone to say. I GOT IT!! Lets all get a giant game of dodge ball going with that guy in the middle. If the baseball players are going on strike maybe they can get some practice in by helping out. What do you think?
Random Aside:
Your character in TNG was someone I could empathise with… (did I spell that right? lol — must remember to check back for humerous responses to my bad spelling lol) simply because of the fact that Wesley Crusher seemed to summarise teen-angst but in an (obviously!) completley different world-scenario thang. But, that said (am I making sense!?) even though the world-scenario was completley different, the issues and situations the character went through were scarily similar to many teen “rites of passage”. (eg. The episode with the disease/virus/doo-hicky where everyone gets “intoxicated” – a la Data yabbering “I’m fully functional” [ vom! ] — Wesley Crushers behaviour — similar to a teen getting drunk…?)
Anyway – I’ve digressed and rambled (sorry!) but, the main thrust of this was that (to me at least!) you were a big part of Star Trek as the character that I could most “relate to” when I first saw it as the characters “growing pains” were similar to the ones I was experiencing at the time.
>
Is them being phenomenally anal — could someone drop me an email address where I can rectify their opinion? 🙂
Ok – I messed up with the last comment, you’ll have to view the source to see it in full (unless Wil’s kind enough to correct it for me) sorry! 🙁
I wish everyone understood their worth like you’re starting to, Wil. You held all the cards in the situation, and you played them beautifully. It’s truly their loss that you’re not going to the con. I’m sure the entire Star Trek cast are all lovely people, but personally, I stopped watching the show when you quit. To tell the truth, I never liked the original Star Trek, and I remember the only reason I even watched TNG was ’cause I saw an article in People Magazine that you were going to be on it. The only other actor on the show who interests me is Patrick Stewart, mainly because of his range and ability to do comedy.
Though I’m sure you know this already, ignore those “grumble-butts” who are trying to put you down for not being over the Star Trek thing. You are making progress, it’s clear. It seems that your writing is your therapy, and to quote Postcards From the Edge: “(life’s) not like in the movies where you have a realization and suddenly youe life changes. In life you have a realization and your life changes like a month later.” So, maybe you just gotta wait a month, Wheaton 🙂
You’re getting there, keep up the good work and love your family.
We want the book! We want the book!
Write the bloody book already, damn you, Wil!
Well, now I’m not entirely certain I’ll be paying to watch Nemesis since you have been so shittily iced from the Trek family. It was so cool that you were finally being acknowledged as part of a Star Trek movie (imagine that, after appearing in 5 out of 7 TNG seasons), to now be treated like crap by heartless imitations of human beings who just happen to be in power (today). Although not necessarily affiliated with the movie, the con bosses are just eclones of the Paramount asses. When you do strike it big –very shortly, as a matter of fact — then the balance will be restored.
Until then, try not to fret deep down, in that emotional cave where one ponders if one even has worth. You are great, and you are great at the things you do. So unfortunate that our world is now such a demon-utopia where talent is not even required to succeed. Wil, you are a real person, someone very in touch with the true, dark world around us. Star Trek is wonderful, but as I’ve gotten older and had to fend off more and more evil from “people” I realize that Gene’s beautiful ideal of a near-perfect society has never been more out of reach than it is now. Too many people know too many things (they think) so now life is money, and money is life. Human love as governing force of society is gone. Trek now, to quote one of its own most dastardly villains, “is irrelevant.” Your being severed from it (as brutal as that was) may indeed be what allows you to finally receive your artist’s true worth.
And I, for one, plan to continue to support your work, indifferent to the achievements and attachments of the past.
I actually was planning to go to this one, but forget it, now. Inundate the Creation weenies with passionate (not with foul superlatives, unless they’re really witty) emails. This address seems the most appropriate:
[email protected]
Wil: Book. Write for TV (Daily Show??). Get ahold of Greg Proops and other national improv folk and see if you can’t hook into the main comedy circuit…
I dunno, man. You seem too real for Tinseltown. Like “new car” smell, it’s seductive but poisonous. Get out of there if you’re serious about quitting the biz. To me, you’ve got the heart of a genuine mensch and as such belong in the SF Bay Area. Not as many cute porn stars and chicklets on rollerskates, though.
I said in my last post that I would think of something intelligent to say so here it is. My tribute to a person whom I have grown to respect greatly and I believe handled himself with more dignity than those he was dealing with.
Its worlds ending that make us stronger. Its colliding realities that challenge us to grow. Its making sense of it all that determines our path. Its taking the path that determines who we are.
Forward is our only direction. It is the direction that we are only vaguely aware as children. It is the direction that we hasten towards as adolescents. It is the direction that we abuse as younger adults.
There is a time as we pass the first golden barrier when we stop. We realize the full impact of our direction. We look back with longing for what we had, but are forever doomed not to touch it. It is only then we see Time for the bastard friend that Time is. Time steals from us our youth but waits to let us know until it is too late. Then Time, like the villainous schoolmaster, teachs us the harsh lessons of change and adapting. We swear to the master that we will not change no matter what is thrown at us. Defiantly we stand with clenched fist and gnashing teeth standing our ground while we move on.
But, before we know it, we have succumbed to the lessons. Looking back while going forward, we realize that we have changed. We no longer need nor desire the way that we were but who we are now. We look forward to the ending worlds and the new realities that await us. We are reborn with a new appreciation for our direction.
Guess you are part of a new and bigger family now Wil, just look at all these posts. Your brave new world.
I read your website all the time, but I don’t normally post that often. But when I finished this last one I just thought how good it was. I just wanted to say that I think you are a really good and talented writer. Keep it coming! 🙂
keep pressing forward….and like all the other times before…something good will come out of this too…
🙁 i feel for you, but hang in there…:)
It’s true, you know. I never once named my household “Wil.” Actually, come to think of it, I don’t think I ever named my household at all. If I did, though, it probably wouldn’t have been “Wil.” I’m sorry.
I am from Indianapolis and there used to be a fan run convention in town called starbase Indy. They had some good guests, and even had Nimoy one year, and this was a fan run convention. Then creation came to town, Creation decided to run their star trek convention at the same time as the fan run convention causing mass confusion and eventually high costs and the evilness of creation run the fan convention to stop. Those were the good years though. At least there is still a fan runned Sci-Fi convention in town.
Nah, the post wasn’t too long. I got pointed to it from a post on a Xena list, where we’re used to getting the ol’ Creation shaft, ahem. I’m a TNG fan, and I’ve been to one convention because it happened to pass through town (OKC), but I have to admit it was a pitiful experience. Only a couple hundred people showed up, and the rented space was some cramped ballroom that you couldn’t leave without having to pay a door fee. The people running the thing seemed pretty pissed off for some reason, and I remember that I wanted to just get through the line and get away from them ASAP. The fans were gracious, and you had every ilk represented – super geeks in costume and the casual watcher alike – but the whole air of it was just… negative. During the whole time I was a Xena fan, I only bought a couple of magazines, but I desperately wanted to go to a convention… til I found out Creation was at the head. Not just the bad experience at the Trekkie con, but also all the myriad of complaints I’d read about them across several mailing lists. So I never went, not once, and damn but I wish I did. … I know it’s a business and somebody’s got to give in order to get, but I think that the fans and the stars might have an easier and more enjoyable time of it if the middleman wasn’t (as you put it) an ‘800 pound gorilla’. Cheers, good luck Wil.
I have to say that, though i did watch a number of the TNG episodes, i am not a fan of the show and i have little interest in attending a ST Convention. In all honesty, i often found Wesley Crusher really annoying.
However, i have to say that i have the utmost respect for Wil and i do not hesitate in the slightest to say that i am a fan.
Wil, thanks for the great read. I devoured your post in a matter of minutes. interesting that the internet perpetuates such voyuerism, no? good luck with your *life* and do keep your priorities in mind. I’ll definitely be back here, and i look forward to picking up a copy of your book.
Wil..
you can join my family any time…
In the midst of writing a term paper on the evil fascist nature of the public education system, I had an irresistable urge to take a little jaunt over to the newly discovered part of the web that is your site.
Gawrsh, I’m glad I did.
In the explanation of your plight with the leader of convention evil-doers you managed to crack me up while simultaneously instilling within me the desire to type up the poems I composed to you back when I was twelve. but I won’t get into that second part now. not in a public forum.
What I will give into is the urge to tell you that I think you did the right thing and that while it is sad that all those convention goers won’t have the opportunity to revel in your presence, at least you didn’t give in to the man….man.
Not part of the Star Trek family? What are they smoking? Shoot, I stopped watching it when you left the show for good. You were the reason I devoted some serious years to my secret trekkie identity. but this is a whole therapy session starting and the evil fascist nature of the public education system, of which I am about to become an instrument of, calls.
someday soon I will be an English teacher and you’ll have a book out and I will leave it lying about the classroom for the young and impressionable minds under my tutilege. this will show “them”
anyways, you are the keenest. and a great writer. …say, how do you feel about term papers? *just kidding*
Now I know why they are called CONS!
How many million?
I say let’s have a Wil Con?
Dancing girls, Comedy skits, Barney Karioki?
The Skydome in Toronto would be ideal.
Thanks Wil.
Maybe Brent and Gates were preoccupied with each other when you showed up. You know, kind of caught in the act or something. Either that or both are blind. Brent “cataract” Spiner and Gates “where are my contacts?” McFadden. Both are over fifty (million or age, take your pick) so what do you really expect.
Wil Con, Wil Con, Wil Con, Wil con!!
Ah, maybe not.
Now where’s that pic of the hot girl posted???
NOT A PART OF THE FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!
That was a good decision.
Brad, good idea, but let’s also NOT forget Adam from Creation in all of this.
My understanding is, that Adam’s email address is:
[email protected]
and also, Gary Berman (who is NOT related to the Berman at Paramount, but gee with a name like that, it figures!) here:
[email protected]
We need to let these TURDS know how we REALLY feel (minus foul language though gang), and ask him just where does Adam get off thinking that HE of all people can tell Wil Wheaton, a REGULAR cast member of ST:TNG that ‘Wil, you’re not part of the Star Trek/ST:TNG Family’!
I wish that some of the webmasters here, might perhaps create a e-mail form letter progam, that allows us fans to send e-mails to not only Adam, and Gary at Creation, but ALSO to Paramount (where Creation gets their licensing rights from I might add) as well!
On a side note, interesting thread just popped up this morning, at the Trekbbs.com threads here:
http://www.trekbbs.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/016787.html
it has a LOT of truth to it if you ask me!
Wil, how come some of those links aren’t working? I tried to click on “the hooters incident” and the con review, but I get a “404 Not Found” error message instead. Bummer…
Anyhow, I can’t blame you for a second… This isn’t even close to being like the baseball situation, so don’t worry about that. You’re being totally disrepsected, just like the rest of us. CRETIN Conventions has been screwing fans for years. They used to do several Wisconsin shows a year, but about five or six years they stopped coming here altogether. I never did the costume thing, but I had fun. The wonderful woman who’s now my wife (Hi Laura!)had her first real date with me at a CRETIN con (yeah, we’re big geeks). I was disappointed when they quit coming, but the occasional visit to their website told me I wasnt missing anything. Overpriced “VIP” seats, having to pay the higher price for the privelege of getting an autograph I used to get for free, forget it. Screw Adam Malin!
Dave Scott and Slanted Fedora aren’t innocents either. I’ll admit they put on a big show with a lot of fun things to do, but they’re every bit as overpriced as CRETIN. Instead of booking ten different actors and making fans buy special “autograph tickets” or whatever, I’d rather go see one or two fun guests for a lower price. The price of admission ought to include being able to stand in line for an autograph. I recently read that SF has also been jerking fnas around. Fans have been getting double charged when placing an order and then unable to get a refund. There was also some fiasco with pre-signed picutres of Patrick Stewart that fans were promised but didn’t get.
I’d really love to see you at con someday, Wil. I hope you’ll still considering smaller, fan-run, cons now and then. Skip the big dogs though. I think you’ll feel better about yourself, and most fans won’t mind. Any fanboy geek who willingly pays CRETIN’s or SF’s prices probably still views you as the devil incarnate anyhow.
Off-topic, did anyone catch Elvis Costello on “Today” this morning? He was great, as always, but I especially loved when he ripped through “Peace, Love & Understanding” and capped it off with a sneering “This one’s for you, Junior!” It won’t stop the pResident from dropping bombs on Iraq or anything, but it was good to hear in “these troubled times.”
Shaun,
You should see how Slanted Fedora screwed not only the fans over, but Patrick Stewart on that deal.
Here’s Patrick’s side of the story here:
http://www.thepsn.org/psn/psletter1.asp
would you belive it, even after he sent the autographed pictures to the event, Slanted fedora’s Check BOUNCED???!!!
Hey “Laughter,” thanks for the posting! Sounds like PS screwed up, but that doesn’t excuse the way SF treated him. They’re all rotten to the core…
Thankfully, Trek just isn’t that big a deal to me anymore. The “franchise” reached its peak with DS9 (Wil, you oughta go back and give that show a chance) and it’s been all downhill form there. VOY and ENT suck rocks, and the TNG films have mostly been a drag too. I might go see Nemesis, but I’ll be seeing The Two Towers and Harry Potter first.
Hey Wil!
Cremation IS a bunch of lousy soul-sucking bastards and everybody knows it. You gotta blow those guys off and only go to REAL Cons.
DragonCon in Atlanta starts this weekend, for instance. 20,000 people, enough wackiness to feed a people-watching frenzy. None of this fakey stuff Cremation does, distancing the stars, making people act stupid, making the stars feel like shit. Hey, there is even a Porn Star Walk of Fame! You could get another chance!
They have lots of skits and parodies at DragonCon too. Bands. An art show.
BTW, your post was not too long. Length is relative. You don’t want to write only for semi-literate junior high kids and leave the rest of us out, do you?
Miasma
Hi Wil,
This is my first post, but I have been reading for quite awhile. My husband turned me on to your website, we are both Star Trek geeks. I have to say, I think you did the right thing in turning down the offer. I have attended both Creation and Slanted Fedora cons, and lately they feel so predatory. I realize they do these cons to earn money, but the Creation cons of the 80’s and 90’s just had a feeling of a family reunion or something. It made you feel, as an attendee, like a small part of the Star Trek universe. The last few I’ve attended have been so expensive, and it seems that they were designed to bilk every last dollar from the fans, as well as the guests. I have gotten the distinct feeling that the guests are not treated as they should be. (Except, of course, for WFS.)Your story confirms my suspicons.
Let me just say that with the release of ST: TNG on DVD, we have been enjoying those early shows that featured Wesley. I hated when Wesley left the show.
Hang in there, Wil, we are your fans. You are a brave, intelligent and obviously caring man. I am glad you defended yourself and turned down the offer.
Hey Wil,
Good on you! In turning down their offer you are keeping control of your life, not surrendering it to the guys at Creation – and maintaining your own self-worth too. Good choice man!!
CM
Time to Stroke Uncle Willies Ego (like, he really needs it, right?)!
Creation says in effect that they think Wil doesn’t have anough Fan Appeal to draw in the fans on his own.
Horse Sh*t!
Check out this auction here on eBay that I just found today:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2134644841
for Uncle Willie’s Autograph, up for sale, by Slanted Fedora (Who as part of the description, has some REALLY nice things to say about Wil too, no kidding!)!
Price for this little Autograph is up to almost 300 smackers!
Can the OTHER ST:TNG “Stars” say the same thaing for THEIR autographs being sold on eBay, hmmm?
Wil not having the power to draw in the fans on his own … not a part of the Trek Family … wow, let’s make Creation EAT those words!
Want Uncle Willies autograph (from a reliable sourse (Slanted Fedora) besides Uncle Willie himself)??
Well, here is your chance to Bid away gang! Enjoy!
;-D
Kind of Blue! My favourite bubble bath soundtrack!
Wow. Three hundred smackers is a bit too much for my budget right now. However, maybe someday I’ll get the autograph straight from Uncle Willie…
Anyway, I’m proud of you, Wil. You do what you need to do, you pour your heart and soul into it, and give your all to your family (foremost), your friends, and your fans. You make me proud to be a Monkey Boxer.
We love you, Wil!
I’m not a creation fan at all — they’re depressing, really, as it’s a place to actor-worship, not to hang out with your fellow geeks.
I just don’t understand how an autograph for Gates McFadden costs $30.00(!!!) while autographs from Sirtis and Dorn only cost $20.00 especially when you consider that McFadden had left the series for a while to do Hunt for Red October. I mean Darth Maul’s autograph cost $20.00! I really hope that Creation and Wizard don’t merge. God help us all on that day.
Creation Cons suck. I had the displeasure of attending my first Trek Creation Con this summer. (With micael Lee -above- no less) The people taking the money should have been wearing ski-masks and taken my wallet right there. Sad thing? The highlights of the convention for me was bits from other creation franchises. (Farscape for one)
If this is the kind of conventions people are attending, no wonder they’re bitter about conventions.
Here in Mpls MN we have a rather large fan convention called CONvergence (www.convergence-con.org). The attendence is modest (1800) but impressive for a local run fan convention.
I’m spoiled by this convention. For 50 some odd bucks you get 3 days of really good programming, munchies, and nifty extras (A movie room, party rooms, skit comedy show, costume show, Mark Time Awards).
I pay that at a Creation Con and get crap. Just crap.
I’m with Spudnuts and others…have your own convention, and yes as Spudz said, invite all those guys that weren’t mainstream… I remember how popular Chief O’Brien was before he moved to DS9, people would collect anything with his photo on it, because he wasn’t mainstream…fans often identify with those characters the best!
Surround yourself with all the ensigns who suddenly showed up on away missions/bridge assignments, only to get themselves killed first time around….remember that African/American man at the helm of the Enterprise when that cat looking guy was killing off members of the crew…I’d pay to see that guy…
….or the guy who played the rebel in Empire Strikes Back on Hoth, where just before the Imperials blow up the base’s power reactors, they take time out to blow him away as he’s running across the snow….that guy pretty much sums up daily life of the average man…I’d pay to see that guy.
Okay, now what address should I use to write to Paramount and tell them I’m not going to see the movie since they cut Wil?
Wil Wheaton: you are a bad, bad influence on me!
Having been on holiday for a few days I obviously decided that it would be a good idea to catch up on your site, after all it is my life!
I thought what the heck there’s nothing better to do in England, I might as well. Hell, it would only take a few minutes, 10 at the most. Wrong! 30 minutes later I was calmly and happily still sitting at my desk, becoming more and more late in delivering my university presentation on why The Godfather was such a crap, boring film that onlt appears to attract male interest.
I loved the entry and all but maybe, for us ‘poor suffering uni students’, you could make it a tad bit shorter next time.
Just a suggestion.
Love ya, Anna
Uncle WILLIE!
PLEASE PLEASE write a book, maybe an e-book available from WWDN? Screw the conventions your a part of THG family as far as this fan is concerned, If I had a phone number I’d call them and let them know they suck!!!
Write the BOOK!
(wicked smile)
Here is Creation’s address and phone number:
Creation Entertainment
1010 N. Central Ave. 4th Floor
Glendale, CA 91202
Phone: (818) 409-0960
Fax: (818) 409-0827
Just to let you know Wil, even though you were on TNG for 4 years, you are still part of Trek. It does not matter how long you were on the show, what is important is the impact you had in the “Star Trek” community. It’s a shame Creation failed to see that.
Best of luck!
I feel very lucky that I get to read your site for free. Because sometime soon, a smart publisher is going to pay you to make this all into a book, and force you to take the free stuff down.
I always admired your acting (even when the scripts were poor). But I like your writing more.