well, at least i got a good story out of it…

My table in the vendor's room at the Phoenix Comicon was right next to Aaron Douglas. Aaron is a good friend, and he knows that I'm a huge fan of his show and admirer of his work. He also knows that I'm way behind on BSG (near the end of season 3) so he's made this heroic effort to protect me from spoilers.

On the second day of the con, Gil Gerard walked over to Aaron and, with a huge smile on his face, very excitedly said, "Hey, Aaron! [GIANT FUCKING BSG SPOILER] man! Cool!"

I clamped my hands over my ears as fast as I could, but it was too late. When Gil walked away Aaron looked over at me with tremendous compassion behind his massive beard and said, "Sorry about that."

"It's my own fault," I said, "and it's actually pretty incredible that I've known you this long and been at cons with you without that happening."

I let a solitary tear fall from my eye and splash onto my table. "I'll be okay."

I guess if you're going to be spoiled, you should at least get a cool story out of it, and I bet there aren't a lot of people who can say, "Oh yeah, Gil Gerard totally spoiled Battlestar for me."

Goddamn my life is weird sometimes.

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66 thoughts on “well, at least i got a good story out of it…”

  1. Wil
    It is a little hard to feel sorry for you. You get to do cool stuff all day, and I am stuck at the ambulance shed about to go on the Third Fire Standby. (Just kidding – I hate when people spoil stuff for me too).
    Plus you have already gotten to see Watchmen. I am going to have to take a vacation day to see it opening night.
    LoL.
    PS Enjoyed Sunken Tresure – got it from Lulu yesterday.

  4. I’m amazed too that this doesn’t happen more for you. Just with my own circle of friends I will need to periodically leap across the room and clamp my hands over someones’ mouth to prevent spoilage. But often I’m too late…. had a friend spoil the fact that (REDACTED) dies while we were watching a DVD of Angel Season One from Netflix. Let’s face it… we’ve all become unstuck in time.

  5. I had an awful spoiler one year when I was in line for the Star Trek Experience in Vegas. This 7-year-old boy in front of me was talking with his parents and killed Star Trek: Nemesis for me. I died a little inside.

  7. You got to admit – Having BSG spoiled by Gil “Buck Rogers” Gerard is pretty damn geeky and cool! I loved that show (and still do when I can find it in re-runs).
    Thanks for sharing!
    Bill Teeple
    San Jose, CA

  8. What did he spoil? Can u hint at it without spoiling it for anyone else? (Although come on Wil, we’re only 4 episodes from the grand finale you gotta catch up! The ending will be all over the web!)

  10. Funny, I think he said about what I would want to say to Aaron Douglas should I ever meet him.
    My husband and I have finished season 4.0, and now have only to avoid spoilers until 4.5 comes out on dvd. (Yay, Netflix!)
    My husband has the Predict Where The Story Is Going superpower and predicted what I think your spoiler was about halfway through season 3. I am actually enjoying it when he is right, since it is not like he knew ahead of time. The only problem is when I break out into laughter at what should be a Very Dramatic Moment, because it had already been predicted.

  11. I have a number of Gil Gerard jokes popping into my head… but I can’t tell them because I just threw out a BSG spoiler to my fiancee this week. She is somewhere in season 4 and when Apollo kissed his wife goodbye my fiancee commented on how sad it was their relationship was so up and down. I opened my big mouth and said, “If you think that’s bad, I couldn’t believe it when she [insert spoiler from “Sometimes a Great Notion”], I was on my feet screaming ‘WHAT THE FRAK’ at my plasma…” then I noticed her eyes wide open and her jaw on the floor. “whoops, sorry”. H ad to stay up looking for that scene so she could have closure.
    So if Gil’s a jerk, then so am I.

  12. Did the BSG writers even know that [insert what we clearly both gather to be the spoiler here] by the mid-season 3? I was under the impression that even they didn’t know where they were going with it…
    Come on Wheaton, how comes you’re only at the near-the-end of season 3? I will try to sell my own grandmother in order to get to the end of this show as fast as humanly possible. The writer’s strike, that delay, ooh I don’t even want to think about what would’ve happened had they actually stopped production halfway through season 4…

  13. I was working on the Brad Paisley concert in Regina this week, and when I went for lunch I ended up sitting directly across from Aaron, with a table in between.
    Now, after deciding it was him, I thought…”why oh why is he on tour?”
    At this point he caught me looking.
    I work as a special effects guy here, and am friends with the BSG FX bestboy, and went to school with the guy who discovered Trisha Helfer, so there was a lot I could have casually talked about.
    Instead, feeling like I was in an actors eye line I put my head down and shut up.
    I would have liked to have said something, but instead I respected his privacy.
    It sure would have been great though to have said “hi”.
    Blah.

  16. the internet is the WORST for spoilers–especially facebook–i can’t believe anyone actually watches anything live anymore but apparently and unfortunately for me THEY DO. DVR, DVD, and instant netflix on the computer is all I watch anymore.

  17. Yes , well , by the time that particular series hits us here in New Zealand , everyone else will have told us that as well , so dont feel bad , at least you got told by someone decent , rather than being two years behind everyone else!!!!!
    :o)

  19. Well, look on the bright side, at least Aaron Douglas no longer has A SECOND FRACKING JOB trying to protect you from spoilers. Seriously, every moment he spent around you since shall we say “that time with the thing…” must have been a constant lookout for people who wanted to talk to him about the thing, coupled with the urgent desire to tell you about the thing.
    Have you discussed the thing?

  21. lol… If it helps any, I still remember the day my brother spoiled Dick Tracey for me. I’d been waiting for ages until it came on the tv, then the bugger nails the ending for me 35 minutes in.
    Happily however, I get him back for this on a regular basis =)
    I just shows – one moment of kindness, a lifetime of good, an act of evil, a world of pain… Keep the good work up Wil – gonna grab the book after payday!

  23. AHHHHHHHH
    Sorry, but I had to unpublish the comment above this one, for the sake of people who haven’t gotten there, yet.

  24. Don’t worry Wil, there are tons of other surprises in BSG in store for you beyond what you learned about the chief. Though I hope the incident inspired you to catch up so you can enjoy the rest of the ride. 🙂
    Logan

  25. *WEARS SHEEPISH GRIN* Umm…now I feel guilty. I realize now that I actually dropped a decent-sized BSG spoiler in my comment on one of your previous Aaron Douglas posts. Sorry, to you, Wil, and others if I ruined any surprises back there. I couldn’t quite comprehend then, I guess, that any self-respecting geek worth his or her salt has gotten themselves behind on new Battlestar episodes. Consider any future comments of mine to be purged of any possible spoilers. Anyone seeking revenge, a small window still exists to spoil stuff right back for me since I haven’t seen the latest episode from last Friday night yet :p.
    I still have vivid, blissful memories of sitting in a theater as a kid and watching the Buck Rogers In The 25th Century movie (the one that preceded the television series) back-to-back (in a science-fiction double feature) with Disney’s The Black Hole movie. The TV show came on at just the right time between Star Wars films. It allowed me to become a devoted viewer. Besides all the high-flying, space-faring adventure and spaceships and hawk-headed dudes and Tigermen, there was something about seeing Erin Gray every week in interesting new outfits that helped my nearly pubescent mind believe that Buck Rogers was one of the coolest shows ever.
    It certainly would be a headtrip to meet old Gil Gerard at some convention these days. Too bad to hear that he turned into such a spoiler monkey :).

  27. If it’s any consolation, you’re better off staying where you are in BSG. Around the time they started the whole plot that involved that story, it was clear they had no idea where to go. This is analogous to the last couple seasons of X-Files where they couldn’t figure out where the whole mythos was going so they just started killing people and winging it.
    Quit watching in the middle of season 3 (just after they leave New Caprica) and love everything you’ve seen up to then. The rest is down hill.
    BTW, I saw Aaron speak at one of the conventions in Baltimore a couple of years back. He was a stitch.

  28. I don’t think Gil can help himself. The spoilers just kind of blurt out. I think it’s caused by wearing his white spandex costume just a LITTLE too tight in Buck Rogers. It put some undue pressure on his brain.
    Erin Grey however, well… that’s a whole different story RAWR!

  29. Wil – will you be at WonderCon? Considering Watchmen and Star Trek exposure, I thought you might visit the Bay.
    Plus- finally figured out how to feed your blog to my LJ. Yay!
    (gads, I’m a tad behind the curve)

  30. Weird, I was just watching that panel on YouTube yesterday. The you, Aaron, Yuri one where I already heard this story. Which reminds me, I haven’t been able to find the Star Trek panel in it’s entirety. The one on YouTube that I found is missing several parts due to battery failure. Does anyone know a place to go to find them?

  31. On a totally different topic, I played Dungeons and Dragons for the first time tonight. I almost turned it down to play Rock Band, but then I thought of you and how much fun you made it sound 😛 So I tried it, and felt just a little bit geekier 🙂

  33. Aaron is a cool guy. I met him at DragonCon 2007, and said I had a friend who knew him. I didn’t realize how well he knew him, because he pulled out his blackberry, called him up, and handed me the phone! Maybe it was a test? Probably not, because he was a really great guy to talk to. I told him I was sorry that [spoilery stuff from the end of season 3 removed for your sake Wil], and he told me it was going to be very cool.

  34. I FINALLY am caught up. This Friday at work I was watching the shows from the previous two weeks and my head sploded. My inner commentary was “Oh…oh ok….ah…what…WHAT….OMG no way…ok that explains a few things….WTF”. I thank my ex boyfriend for getting me into it last year. I tried to watch an early Season 4 episode with him last year and I was so confused. I was a good girl though and did not do THAT GIRL thing of asking questions during the show. When a commercial came he paused the TV and looked at me and asked me what questions I had. He’s so happy we can talk about the show now.

  35. One of the best shows on TV right now ruined by Buck Rogers, I guess things could be worse. I’ve ruined my best friends BSG future on purpose, well frankly it’s because he ruins everything for me, so I was returning the favor.
    Seriously if you are that far behind on the show, you need to just sit down some night and watch the rest of the episodes that you’ve missed. This season is blowing my mind. Literally the three episodes are completely awesome. I’m glad that I have kept up with the show on a weekly basis so no one can ruin the show with spoilers.
    Michael

  38. I remembered the day that Gil Gerard spoiled that Twiki was gay. It was a dark day for me.
    But seriously, Season 3? Your spoil level is so frakin’ 2007!

  39. My Name is Buck and I like to…
    Sorry. Wrong Buck. BUT SERIOUSLY! ACK!
    I haven’t even started Season 3 yet.

  40. ”
    If it’s any consolation, you’re better off staying where you are in BSG. Around the time they started the whole plot that involved that story, it was clear they had no idea where to go. This is analogous to the last couple seasons of X-Files where they couldn’t figure out where the whole mythos was going so they just started killing people and winging it.
    Quit watching in the middle of season 3 (just after they leave New Caprica) and love everything you’ve seen up to then. The rest is down hill.”
    —
    Well that’s a load of complete and utter craptacular BS right there. Nice troll, though. Golf clap.
    Keep on watching, sometimes you gotta roll the hard six.

  41. BSG was written from beginning to end before the start of the first season. The writers had the whole idea before the show was even in production. They DO KNOW where they have been going the whole time, the thing is that they didn’t know how long things would take to tell, so that’s where some of the confusion is with the way some of the shows are going. I thought that season 4 was a little off the rails too, but it’s all coming together, if anything it seems like it might be rushed in the past 7 or 8 episodes. Nothing is perfect and this show is no exception, but it’s as close as we got right now. Lost is the one that is clueless as to what the fuck they are doing. What a confusing mess that show is. I never got into that show. After seeing the second season I jumped over board and never swam back to the island. I chose to drown instead of watching that hopeless drool.
    Michael

  42. Whenever a sci-fi star from my childhood shows up in your daily life I know things are headed down a strange path. See WFS.
    When that star then spoils a current sci-fi show for you while you are sitting next to one of the stars of that current show it’s become truly bizarre.
    I do think it’s cool that Gil is a fan of a show like BSG. I hate it when people do sci-fi and make their living off of sci-fi, but really don’t like sci-fi. See WFS.

  43. Well, it wasn’t ruined. It was just one thing that I was totally unprepared for. It didn’t ruin the show for me at all.

  44. Wil
    When Aaron came up on stage and told that story I could hardley contain my excitement for what season 4 would have in store. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve got about half way through. All I can say is FRAK! It’s super awesome. Conventions are made of moments like that. It’s one thing to hear spoilers. But to hear them off Buck Rogers is really quite special.
    Wasn’t Phoenix Comicon awesome! I have to say it was one of the best weekends I’ve had in 34 years.
    Thanks Wil for being so kind, and thankyou to you and Aaron for a great photo.
    I’ll be seeing everyone next year!
    Julian

  45. Have you seen “The Crying Game”? Jaye Davidson is a DUDE!
    There is something to be said for experiencing a cultural phenomenon with the culture. I video record SNL, and although I know it’s the SAME show that went out LIVE (or nearly live), it still “feels” different because I know that I’m not seeing it at the same time as the majority of the audience. Maybe it’s an Imagined Theater of people I’m sitting with, maybe the effect is entirely placebo. I’m not sure.
    There’s a difference between seeing a movie in a crowded theater and an empty one. Even if the people around you are totally silent.
    There’s a difference between watching a TV Show week to week and waiting for the Season of shows to come out on DVD. There’s a difference between reading pamphlet comics and waiting on the TPB. There are benefits to each experience. But the danger of bumping into spoilers is certainly one of the drawbacks of waiting.
    By the way, as far as Gil Gerard goes: Mel Blanc was the voice of Twiki! That’s why he sounds like Yosemite Sam!

  46. I’m so glad you made the trip to Phoenix, Julian. I knew you’d have a good time.
    I hope you *will* make it back next year, because it’s going to be even bigger and better than this year.

  47. Yeah, I know that it’s nobody’s fault but mine, even if I do feel like a fool in the rain.
    My reasons for being so far behind on BSG: when it came out, I didn’t have time to watch it, so I started watching on DVD. I devoured everything that was available, and then waited FOREVER for 2.5 to come out. When that came out, I devoured it, too. Then, 3.0 came out just as 4.0 was starting on TV, and I told my DVR to save every episode of 4.0 while I worked through 3.0. When we got to the 4th disc of 3.0, our DVR crashed and erased EVERYTHING we had. Suddenly, it wasn’t that important for me to get caught up to watching it in real time.
    So I got busy again and fell behind again. Now I’m on the last disc of 3.0, and I have 4.0 waiting. The second half of 4.0 is sitting on my DVR, which I hope doesn’t frakking crash again.
    Hey, maybe my DVR is a cylon?
    Oh. spoiler alert.

  48. Aaron Douglas sis is a country musician. Not sure if she’s on Brad Paisley’s tour or not but that could be why you ran into him.
    I wish i ran into cool people. I just run into lame politicians.

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