Megacon
Orlando, Florida USA. February 2005
By Sue Kite (www.bookscape.net)

I left work at noon on Friday, finally getting to Orlando and finding the hotel at 11:00 p.m. where I was sharing a room with a BR friend, Mariet. The next morning she and I went over to the convention center about 9:30, where I picked up my "ticket" wristband, then we got together with Jimma (another BR friend) and her husband, Dan.

When the doors opened, we all made a bee line toward the celebrity signing, easing our way past the animé gaming section. Jimma, Dan and Mariet had met Thom on Friday as they had gotten in much earlier than me. But still, that is where we went when we got there. Thom was all smiles when he saw us, gave me a great handshake and then he got the homemade jelly treatment. Sorry, sounds strange, but that is a custom of mine when I go to these things. Started it when I went to a Hollywood event a few years back. Anyway, Thom was delighted, then he signed a picture I picked out. I loved his rendition of the Hawk character and told him so. All of us had out picture taken with Thom and after talking for a bit more, went on to see the others. Gil was funny as usual and he also got a jar - strawberry. He even remembered the first jar - strawberry. Anyway, we chatted, then on to see Erin. She was beautiful as ever, greeted us like old friends and we chatted there for a few minutes, too. She got her treat and then it was on to see Felix. He was spiffy in his cowboy shirt and jeans and as usual, very friendly.

I do think that Thom is one of the easiest to hug guys I have met, although Richard Hatch is pretty good in that regard, too...I talked to Sam J. Jones and Melody Anderson while the others looked around. Thought it rather ironic that Jones was blonde in Flash Gordon and Anderson was dark haired, and at the convention he was dark haired and she was blonde… I chatted with Richard Herd (V, Star Trek) and mentioned that I had come down from Athens, Tennessee...He lit up and said, "You won’t believe which little Tennessee town I grew up in." I asked which and he replied Gatlinburg. I was totally astonished. He was very charming. He's also a very good artist.

Sue, Thom, Jimma and Mariet

Finally it was time for the Buck Rogers Q & A session. The foursome was asked about some memorable moment they wanted to relate. Thom told about a scene in an episode where Buck is incapacitated and Hawk is cradling his unconscious friend. He mentioned that it was a later episode after the characters have developed a bond of trust and friendship. As he was doing the scene, Thom recalled a feather lightly floating down in front of his face. He didn't hear anyone say 'cut' so he continued his lines. Finally, there was some reaction from the crew and Gil opened his eyes, asking, "Are you laughing at me?" Whereupon, Thom answered, camera still rolling, "No, I'm molting."

Felix recalled the cemetery scene in the movie. He said it was a night shot, Gil added that it was "all night" Felix continued by saying that because he had trouble seeing out of the Twiki costume even in daylight, he walked the area of the scene, getting rid of anything, rocks and the like that would give him problems. Erin then added that the suit was such that Felix couldn't get it on or off without help. Nodding, Felix continued saying that they were filming, Gil ahead of him about twenty paces and he was following at as fast a run as he could manage when he fell flat on his face. Someone on the crew finally came to his rescue, pulling him up under his armpits and holding him in the air. This shoved the outfit up, nearly choking him. While Felix is trying to breathe, the guy continues to hold him up and finally says, "What do you want me to do with him?"

Later Felix mentioned another time when the suit caused him embarrassment...He couldn't get anyone to help him out of the suit so he could answer the call of nature. He would ask but he would be told, "Just a few minutes..." Finally someone had pity on him.

I was laughing too hard to remember everything that Gil said. Erin reiterated that those spandex outfits were like body girdles...

Gil did mention the filming of Cruise Ship to the Stars. He said that in context of the fact that sometimes the lines in the scripts lent themselves to levity. He explained that the plot was about Buck and Wilma protecting "the galaxy's most perfect woman" played by Dorothy Stratton. Buck and the captain of the vessel are talking about her and he is supposed to say "I think they're after her genes." He said that if he got the line out without laughing, the actor playing the captain would start laughing. "Twenty-two takes and we're still trying" Gil said with a grin.

Erin recalled the time Gil talked her into playing a joke on his accountant. Erin was supposed to meet the accountant at the airport like she was his long lost lover. Problem was, his wife was with him. So she says she comes up to this guy, throws her arms around him and says, "Oh, Joe, I've missed you so much" and all kinds of mushy stuff like that. The wife, behind in the crowd keeps coming closer and closer and he's getting more and more nervous, sweating like crazy. Erin said it had to be her best acting job up to that point and she said Gil was behind a pillar laughing his head off.

She also mentioned how she was the new "kid" on the block, playing everything straight, studying all aspects of filming, acting, all the nuances of doing the movie and the episodes, including watching the dailies, (each day's film). She was straight man to Gil's cutting up. But one day she coerced the cameraman into continuing to film after the director said cut. They were filming a scene from Planet of the Slave Girls where she and the servant girl have been captured by Kaleel's men and were locked in the steamy, hot room. Hot, sweaty, in those skimpy outfits (whereupon Gil made some innuendo that had Erin laughing), the girl playing Ryma was saying something to the effect to how sorry that Buck wouldn't be able to rescue them, whereupon the director yelled cut. Erin looked straight into the camera and said, "You know an egg only gets laid once..." Then she said something else as a punch line and the crowd was howling with laughter so much that I didn't hear what she had said. Sigh. Anyway, Erin said that after that, it became a contest to see who could come up with the most outrageous joke.

Asked what their favorite and/or worst episode was, Gil said that the movie was his favorite, while The Satyr came in second, being his favorite of the second season. Erin mentioned Space Vampire as her favorite. Someone in the audience said something about her playing a bad girl and everyone clapped. Felix said that Twiki is Missing was his favorite. Erin said that Dorian Secret was her least favorite. "Are you warm enough?" "Here is a blanket." All episode she said she was doing that. You could almost see her shudder.

After the question and answer, Jimma and her husband had to leave to catch the plane. There really wasn't much else to do and after a while, Mariet and I headed out to dinner. I left the next morning for home, so very glad to have had the opportunity to meet new friends and see old ones.