Beloved "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" voice actors James Arnold Taylor, Ashley Eckstein and Matt Lanter took the stage at FanX 2023, providing some fun moments for those in attendance. The panel was subject to a lot of topic restrictions, due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, which was still in full swing at that time, which, in retrospect, just wasn't a whole lot of fun. However, the actors were able to express their gratitude to the fans, and JAT even got Matt to talk about "Timeless" for a second, which we loved.
Here are a few highlights from what was, all things considered, a fun little panel from last September:
Gratitude for fans:
James Arnold Taylor: [The responsibility of being a member of the "Star Wars" franchise is] not something that we take lightly. You know, there are so many amazing, talented voice actors involved in "Star Wars," from Jim Cummings – who’s here – to Corey Burton to Dee Bradley Baker, Tom Kane, Phil Lamar, Nika Futterman, on and on and on. Ashley Eckstein, Matt Lanter…
Ashley Eckstein: James Arnold Taylor!
JAT: Catherine Taber, uh… this guy, James Arnold Taylor. We don’t hold it lightly because we are huge "Star Wars" fans, and we are blessed to be a part of this. So, we’re just thrilled to be able to have you all come up to the table and say that and tell us your stories. We just thank you for that. [Audience cheers]
AE: And we know how much it means to you because it means that much to us, so thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your support. Thank you for sticking with us. [In the voice of Ahsoka Tano:] "You’re stuck with me, Sky Guy." [Audience cheers]
On the difference between live action and voice acting:
Matt Lanter: It's a whole different process: you're behind the microphone, your technique has to be pretty good or else you're not going to be heard very well, you have to bring out all the emotion [while] being kind of confined…
JAT: No looks, so Matt Lanter can’t rely on those hunky good looks. You can’t look into the camera because there's no camera – it's just a microphone! And then, you have to rely on being able to convey everything with just your voice. It is also, when you’re doing animation like "The Clone Wars," we did it just like this. We were in the round. We read together. We were in the room together. When you’re doing a video game, you’re alone in the studio. If you’re doing an animated feature film, you’re usually alone. So, each one of them has their own challenges. Each one is different. But you’re always, hopefully, conveying the right emotion and character and don’t get them confused. That would be bad.
AK: I will say – because we get this question a lot – a lot of people come up to us and they say, "How can I be a voice actor?" Well, voice acting is just acting, at its core, so I say, if you want to get into voice acting, get into acting. I started in theater, and then I actually went to film and television, and then I went into voiceover. So, the techniques are different, you know, like Matt said, but, at its core, it’s all acting.
ML: Yeah, just using different tools to bring a character to life. And, you know, there’s just different… You’re hindered by some things in live action, and the opposite goes for VO – but it’s all acting. You’re right.
Matt Lanter talks about "Timeless":
JAT: You’ve done a lot of time travel. What was your favorite episode? What was your favorite era?
ML: If I had been on a show where we time-travelled…
JAT: You were on a show where you time-travelled!
ML: We can talk about it, right? It’s done. It’s over.
ML: I had a lot of really fun episodes. I liked… We had a Nazi Germany episode that I thought was really fun. It was a great episode. My character was… That sounds really weird, I know: "The Nazi Germany episode was fun." My character got to fan-boy over Ian Fleming. […] But that was a fun episode for me. And also, behind the scenes – as a cast, as a crew – we just started to have a lot of fun in that episode, so it stands out for me.
*****
There you have it! For more FanX content, check out all of our other posts, find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter (here and here).
Believe it or not - and this may shock you - we're not going to have AI write this blog. Yeah, we hope you were sitting down for that. As our collective think tank was hard at work last night, we had an idea and we wanted to give it a shot. The new idea is called "Love to See It." We're going to make a couple lists of things we love to see, things we don't love to see and things that we would love to see. If the sparks catch fire, we may come back and do this again with different topics, from time to time. We'll see how it goes.
Today, we're going to take stock of the current state of World Wrestling Entertainment and talk about things we love to see in WWE.
Love to See It:
LA Knight:
We love LA Knight right now. Basically anything he does lately has been great. The man is arguably the best superstar on the mic and has garnered a massive wave of fan support in the past few months. Check out his glorious promo with The Miz on last night's Monday Night RAW:
Get LA Knight a belt, and make it happen soon.
Iyo Sky's Money in the Bank cash-in:
SummerSlam 2023 had its ups and downs, but one of the best moments of the night came when Iyo Sky successfully cashed in her Money in the Bank briefcase. This came hot on the heels of Bianca Belair surprisingly pinned then-champion Asuka after limping her way back to the ring following an apparent, brutal injury.
Bianca smiled through her (kayfabe) pain as she was crowned the new women's champion, but her joy was short-lived. Sky's ominous entrance music hit and she and Bayley bolted to the ring. At that point, it was all over but the crying. Bayley provided back-up by fending off Asuka and Charlotte Flair (who also competed in the triple threat match), and Io took to the skies with a colossal moonsault to pin Belair and win her first women's title on the main roster.
There's nothing more thrilling than a successful MITB cash-in, and this provided a momentary glimpse of joy before Roman Reigns successfully retained his heavyweight title over Jey Uso in the lackluster conclusion to last weekend's Premium Live Event.
Surging popularity of the Alpha Academy:
It took us a while, but we finally came around on Chad Gable. His "Shoosh" gimmick was hilarious as soon as he started doing it. His smarter-than-you schtick grew on us months and months ago, and his recruitment and mentorship of Otis has been an odd couple routine that we never before knew that we needed. (If you've ever seen Otis at a live event, the dude is absolutely hysterical.)
It seems that the Alpha Academy, with new recruit Maxxine Dupri, has finally won over the rest of the WWE audience, with Gable picking up a huge hometown win to earn the number one contendership for the Intercontinental championship on Monday night. Of course, we know that there is no way Gable will beat the seemingly invincible Gunther for the belt, but it was fun to see the crowd fully behind the Academy, at long last.
uh-THANK YEWWWWWW!
Don't Love to See It:
The Bloodline:
We acknowledged Roman Reigns as Tribal Chief and Head of the Table for a good long while. He was truly at the top of his game and became someone we couldn't help but love to hate. Things have changed, however.
We're sick of the five-minute walk to the ring. The "Acknowledge Me" promos have grown stale. His matches are boring and always end in him cheating to retain. Yeah, we get it - that's his character. The guy has so much family support that somebody will always be there to help him get the W. But it has gone on way too long, at this point. WWE had the perfect opportunity to let Roman drop the strap and head off on a well-deserved year-and-a-half-long vacation when he faced Cody Rhodes at Wrestlemania, but they had him win there (much, much, much to our utter dismay). The next logical time for him to lose would have been at SummerSlam, but we knew there was no way that Jey Uso, of all people, would be the guy to beat him for the championship. There was no way that was going to happen.
What happened on Saturday night, though, was probably the most illogical, stupid thing they possibly could have come up with. Why on earth would Jimmy Uso (who we knew was going to show up, in some capacity) return to betray Jey and help Roman win? If you've been following the three-year Bloodline saga, especially recently, that makes absolutely ZERO sense.
Anyway, whatever. It happened and I guess they're running with it. But now, we don't think Roman's going to lose until next Wrestlemania (if even then!). It's ridiculous, it's boring, and it's gone on way, way, way too long. Please, Triple H, PLEASE just end this storyline.
Charlotte Flair jumping the line:
Charlotte Flair taking months off and returning to work for an immediate title shot - name a more iconic duo. You can't. They go legitimately hand in hand. There's a reason why Charlotte has won so many championships: because she wins the belt, holds it for like two months, loses, goes on vacation and comes back to immediately win the title back. It's stupid. And she even acknowledged it a few weeks ago when she most recently returned! She knows it and we all know it. She says that she doesn't wait in line, that she is the line and that she basically deserves title shots whenever she feels like it. Ridiculous.
We couldn't have been happier that Charlotte (and Bianca, for that matter) didn't leave SummerSlam as champion, because we've seen those two face and defeat basically every other woman on the roster. Thankfully, with Io Sky as champion, we'll get some completely fresh rivalries, so that will be nice.
The Viking Raiders:
Like, is anybody even remotely threatened by these guys? They're good for a potty break, if you need one. You can pretty much fast forward through anything that involves them. For as intimidating as they should be (especially with freaky Valhalla by their side), it's just silly how much they lose. We wouldn't mind it if they disappeared from the main roster sometime soon. Go wreak havoc down on NXT or something. Just get them off our screens on Mondays and Fridays. We've had enough.
Would Love to See It:
A team-up of The Miz and Grayson Waller:
We respect The Miz. He worked his butt off to get where he is and has settled in as a solid, dependable guy to take on any celebrity matches. He's great on the mic and thrives on the hatred of the WWE Universe.
We hate Grayson Waller. Can't stand the guy, honestly.
But please, for the love of it, put those two together as a tag team. They would be hilarious and, if the SummerSlam battle royal was any indication, could probably work together pretty well in the ring. They'd instantly be a top heel tag team and would pose an actual threat to Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens' current title reign.
Finn Balor turning on the Judgment Day:
It's got to happen. It's got to happen soon.
We liked the Judgment Day when they first started out. Edge, Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley... that was good stuff. Then they added Finn Balor and kicked out Edge, and that was ok. Things started heading south when they added Dominic Mysterio (BOOOOOOOO), who literally just sucks at everything and is, by a long shot, the most hated WWE superstar in recent memory. The fans still love Rhea, but Finn has looked weak for months (he should never fight Seth Rollins ever again, by the way) and Priest was a disappointing MITB winner.
What would have been great would have been for Finn to have beaten Seth Rollins at SummerSlam, then have Priest cash in on Finn. That would have been juicy. That would have been spicy. But they didn't do that and, instead, just had Finn and Priest kind of awkwardly fumble around the briefcase and stare seethingly at each other.
They planted more seeds of a Judgment Day break-up on Monday night, even going so far as having JD McDonagh say that Priest should get rid of his briefcase, which has been the root of so much inner turmoil lately. Having Finn turn face and leave the Judgment Day would be the best possible outcome, in our opinion. Rhea should also break away from Dom, who has largely watered down what should have otherwise been an absurdly dominant women's title reign. We mean, what does Rhea actually do these days, other than whisper in Dom's ear and threaten to beat up men?
Break 'em up.
Johnny Gargano doing... anything?:
We were excited when Johnny Wrestling got called up to the main roster. But since then, what has he done? Almost nothing, right? He was sort of involved with the Dexter Lumis stalker storyline that ended up being some spin-off of The Miz trying to hire a bodyguard or something, but that's really about it. He went down and had a fight on NXT for a second. Give him a main roster title shot. Reunite him with Tommaso Ciampa, who has also had a disappointing run on RAW. Just have Gargano do something. We'd love to see it.
*****
What do you think about the current state of WWE? What's good? What's bad? Let us know in the comments below, on Twitter (here and here) or on Facebook. Also, keep an eye out for us at Monday Night RAW in Salt Lake City in September. We'll have a sign and we'll be right in the "TV Zone." Mama, we're gonna be on TV again!
We took to Bing's new AI chat to tackle a monumental task in the world of pop culture. We asked it to write a short story about a Batman/"The Walking Dead" crossover event.
In a matter of seconds, here's what it came up with:
**The Dark Knight of the Dead**
Batman was on patrol in Gotham City when he received an urgent message from Alfred. He switched on his communicator and heard his butler's voice.
"Master Bruce, I'm afraid I have some bad news. There's been a global outbreak of a virus that turns people into flesh-eating zombies. The authorities are calling it the walker virus. It's spreading fast and there's no cure."
Batman felt a chill run down his spine. He had faced many threats before, but nothing like this. He asked Alfred how he was doing.
"I'm fine, sir. I've barricaded myself in the Batcave with enough supplies to last for a while. But I'm worried about you. You need to get out of the city as soon as possible. It's not safe here."
Batman looked around and saw chaos and panic everywhere. People were running and screaming, cars were crashing, buildings were burning. He saw some zombies shuffling towards him, their eyes glazed and their mouths dripping with blood.
He knew Alfred was right. He had to leave Gotham and find a safe place to regroup and plan his next move. He activated his Batwing and flew away from the city.
He decided to head towards Atlanta, where he had heard there was a CDC facility that might have some answers. He hoped to find some survivors there, or at least some clues on how to stop the virus.
He arrived in Atlanta after a few hours of flying. He scanned the area and saw that it was overrun by zombies as well. He spotted the CDC building and landed on the roof. He entered the facility and searched for any signs of life.
He found a few corpses, but no one alive. He checked the computers and found a video message from a scientist named Dr. Jenner. He played the message and watched as the scientist explained what he knew about the virus.
He said that it was a mutated form of rabies that affected the brain and reanimated the dead. He said that everyone was infected and that death was the only trigger. He said that he had tried to find a cure, but failed. He said that he had lost hope and that he was going to end his life.
He said that he had rigged the building to explode and that anyone who was watching this message should get out as fast as they could. He said that he was sorry and that he hoped someone would find a way to survive.
The message ended with a countdown timer that showed 10 seconds left.
Batman cursed and ran towards the exit. He barely made it out before the building exploded behind him. He got on his Batwing and flew away from the blast.
He realized that he had wasted his time coming here. There was no hope in Atlanta. There was no hope anywhere.
He decided to keep flying until he found somewhere safe to land. He hoped to find some other survivors who might have some idea on how to deal with this apocalypse.
He flew for several hours until he saw a prison in the distance. He decided to check it out. Maybe there were some people there who could help him.
He landed near the prison gate and got off his Batwing. He approached the gate cautiously and saw a group of armed people standing behind it.
They pointed their guns at him and shouted at him to identify himself.
Three stars of Netflix's ultra-popular show "Stranger Things" reunited at FanX 2022 for one of the biggest panels of the weekend. Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin), Eduardo Franco (Argyle) and Grace Van Dien (Chrissy) joined forces to tackle topics both actual and hypothetical, from what life has been like since joining the cast to who would die first in the event of an actual apocalypse.
Here are some of the highlights from one of the funniest panels of the weekend:
A fan asked Grace Van Dien if she is aware of the viral “Chrissy, Wake Up” songs.
Van Dien: Yes, I’ve heard all the “Chrissy” remixes. I think it's so cool. I think I’ll be singing “Chrissy, Wake Up” way past everybody else.
A fan asked Van Dien about her character's brief interactions with Vecna, resulting in this tweet that got a little love from Chrissy fans online:
A fan asked Eduardo Franco how he would want his character, Argyle, to die on the show. Franco then hilariously proceeded to demonstrate that he and Argyle are basically the exact same person.
Franco: Let’s see... How would I… It’s gotta be good, man. There’s so many deaths in movies that like, you know, I’ll watch and I’m like, “[Expletive], that’s a crazy-good one,” you know? Like Quint in “Jaws,” how he’s slowly… he’s kicking and he’s just like, “No! No! No! No! No!” – so bad – and that [expletive] is just doing this… [Franco pantomimes the scene, audience laughs] Something like that, or it could be like… I don’t know, man. It’d be something like that. Maybe some… what’s a good – yo! You know what’s a good death in a movie? [Audience laughs] Sorry. I don’t know if you guys were like this, but it’d be [expletive] amazing to do it again: the guy in “RoboCop” – the one that slams into the vat of chemicals, and he comes out yo! [Franco screeches, audience laughs] And then, and then – yo! And then Red Forman [actor Kurtwood Smith, who starred in “RoboCop” and played Red Forman on “That 70s Show”] drives right through him and he [expletive] explodes! That would be [expletive] crazy.
A fan asked who their favorite "Stranger Things" character is (but they couldn't choose their own character), as well as their least favorite character.
Matarazzo: There’s an answer, for sure. Who’s my favorite character? Can’t choose Dustin. You guys could choose Dustin – I’m just saying. I’m gonna pick… Steve. [Audience cheers wildly, Matarazzo laughs] That was like the State of the Union. It’s like, “YES!”
Franco, mockingly: Steve.
Matarazzo: I think my least favorite… That’s messed up. Least favorite? I don’t want to pick a bad guy because I think that those characters are awesome. Know what I mean? It’s not necessarily, like, your least favorite character is someone that does bad things on the show because that’s what make shows exciting. People are saying, “Vecna!” […] Vecna’s probably one of my favorite characters in the show’s history. So, I’m gonna pick… Oh, man!
Franco: You have to pick one.
Matarazzo: I’ve got to pick one? Who’s that “Argyle” dude? [Audience laughs]
Franco, dejectedly: My favorite character has always been Dustin. [Audience laughs] It’s ok. Never meet your heroes, guys.
Surprisingly, Van Dien would go on to say that Season 4 bully Jason gets an undeserved amount of hate - an answer which seemed to irritate the overwhelmingly anti-Jason audience.
Matarazzo was asked about filming Eddie’s Season 4 rock concert.
Matarazzo: Oh, it was a complete bop and a half. I just felt really bad because we were on top of this trailer in a real neighborhood, like in the middle of the night. Yeah, we filmed that and I was… and there was a scene after that where, uh, spoilers… Ah, this is actually… Who hasn’t seen Season 4? Why are you… Aww [incoherent mumbling] … Well, something bad happens. [Audience laughs] And I have to go to the bad thing that’s happening and I’m screaming a lot while doing it, and it’s like 4:30 in the morning. [The directors were] like, “Really scream!” Like, “Ok!” So I’m running and then we stop and do it over and over again, and I’m like, “This sucks!” Yeah, so I just felt… It was awesome and I just felt bad. That was pretty much it. That was crazy, though.
*****
There you have it! What were some of your favorite parts from Season 4 of "Stranger Things"? What are your predictions for Season 5? How do you think Argyle should die? Is it ok to put pineapple on pizza? Let us know in the comments section, on Twitter (here and here) or on Facebook.
FanX 2022 featured an exciting reunion panel for "Psych" fans, as stars Timothy Omundson and Maggie Lawson joined forces for a laughter-filled chat about pineapples, podcasts and solving cases. However, we at Signs of the Times remember Omundson best for his role as the baddie-turned-bestie, King Richard, on the short-lived musical comedy "Galavant."
Omundson took a few minutes during the panel to reminisce about his "Galavant" gig, with some supportive fangirling from Lawson. Here's what they had to say:
Lawson: How great was Tim on “Galavant?”
Omundson: […] I’ve had such incredible
roles to play. To leave “Psych” and then – well, you never “leave ‘Psych’” –
but, to have done “Psych” for eight years… well, eight years; 120 episodes; at
this point, three movies – of, hopefully, eight… [Audience cheers] …to then get
to do “Galavant” was just an embarrassment of riches. Here’s a little secret: I
had not done a musical since high school, so I got to work and just, really, I
had no idea what I was doing. […] In between hiatuses, I had to double down on
singing lessons. I really wanted [to learn how to] sing because I really had no
idea – I had no technique, whatsoever. I was in a recording booth with the
great Alan Menken. [Audience cheers] He’s done some stuff. …and I recorded one
of my first songs [-] one of my big songs… my big song – I think it’s from the
pilot – and I can’t hit the top note. I could sort of see through the recording
booth glass, all the producers kind of look at each other, and I immediately
[start sweating]. I’m like, “I am getting fired. They’re gonna realize, they’re
gonna discover I’m a fraud. I’m gonna get fired immediately.” Alan comes in the
booth with me and he’s trying to teach me how to sing, and I’m like, “This is
horrible!” So I left the booth that day, trying not to burst into tears, and
vowed that I would never let that happen again. On hiatus, I went back and took
lessons and learned how to sing, just because I was afraid I was going to get
fired. It was the greatest job, second to “Psych,” of my life. Because, I mean,
like, riding horses through the countryside of England and Morocco? Come on!
Lawson: I remember that process. You worked so hard. I
remember being on a plane back from Vancouver as “Psych” was finishing up. […]
I remember saying to you, “You can do whatever you want – what would be your
next job?” And you kind of said all of those things that “Galavant” had, before
“Galavant” had even come along. [Then] that showed up and I remember that
audition process; it went on and on and on, and I remember being like, “He’s
gonna get this!”
Omundson: It literally took five months for me to finally get
the job. So, at that time, every human being that my family and I knew, knew I
was up for this role, and I was like, “This could be so embarrassing if I don’t
get this job.” But the […] network had a big English movie star in line for the
role, so they kept putting it off until they’d offered the job to not just one
movie star but two. I’m not saying who, but they were British…
Lawson: But they weren’t Timothy Omundson!
Omundson: Thank goodness. So, finally, one of them said, “You’ll
have to hypnotize me to sing,” because he was afraid of singing. [“Galavant”
creator] Dan Fogelman, right from the get-go, was like, “Don’t worry, you’re my
guy. We’ve just got to get the network to let go of this dream with these movie
stars.” And, the next thing, I’m on a plane to England!
Lawson: You’re still his guy!
Omundson: I’m so incredibly lucky. So, to go from “Galavant,”
then… [sarcastically] Maggie, did you hear that I had a stroke?
Lawson, sarcastically: Wait, what?!
Omundson: Oh yeah, it was in all the papers! I’m ok, though.
[Audience laughs, sympathetically]
Lawson: Oh, fantastic! [Audience cheers] You’re the greatest
warrior I know!
Omundson: So, to go from that little, massive brain injury
to then have my “Psych” family, who rallied behind me like they all did, to
build the movies around me, was just… I’m still gob-smacked by it.
A few minutes later, a fan asked Omundson what his favorite song was to perform on "Galavant." Omundson replied, "[It was] probably the song 'Goodnight, My Friend.' It was such a beautiful song. I think that was my favorite song of all. It was a beautiful song, incredibly touching. So, it would probably be that one."
*****
What is your favorite Timothy Omundson role? Have you found all of the hidden pineapples in "Psych"? And, perhaps more importantly, how badly do you think they need to bring "Galavant" back for a third and final season? Let us know in the comments section, on Twitter (here and here) or on Facebook.
As always, keep it here at Signs of the Times for even more FanX fandom.
FanX 2022 brought together a dream pairing of actors from "The Walking Dead," who never officially met on-screen: David Morrissey and Ross Marquand. Morrissey played the dastardly Governor in 20 episodes between Season 3 and Season 5, and Marquand's character, Aaron, has survived for more than 100 episodes, down to the episodes leading up to the series finale. The pair took the Grand Ballroom stage to chat with fans about their time on the show, some behind-the-scenes hijinks and the ever-popular "what if?" scenarios.
Here are some of the highlights from their Thursday afternoon panel:
A fan asked Morrissey what it was like to film an infamous Season 4 episode between the Governor and Hershel.
Morrissey:Whenever anybody goes on the show that you’ve spend time with, it’s really hard. Scott [Wilson] was a special person. He was a great man. When I joined the show, […] to be working with such a wonderful actor, who I had been seeing for a long time, in films like “In Cold Blood,” “The Great Gatsby”… This was an actor that I’d admired – not just as an actor but as a man – for many years. So when I read that episode, yeah, my heart sank because I knew everyone was going to hate me, but also because it was a tough thing to do. The day we did it, all the crew turned up and they all had, like, Hershel suspenders on and stuff like that. It was a mixed day for everybody, but that happens when a lot of people die on the show. They become your friends. You become very close to them, so it is hard to see someone go, after so long. The good thing was that I did that and then I died quite quickly, so I thought that people would see that I’d suffer, so that was good. [Scott Wilson] was a great man, he was a great actor and a really great friend. It was hard to do [on the show] but it was hard to lose him in real life, as well.
A fan asked what the relationship between The Governor and Aaron would have been like if their paths had crossed on the show.
Morrissey: Well, I think it depends on when they meet in their arc, really. I think I could see [Aaron] working in Woodbury. At one point, Woodbury was a really successful place. It was working well, it sort of had a community. It was sort of a dictatorship but it was working ok. In that point of our story, I think we would have got on very well. I think what the Governor was looking for was a good, solid community, and that’s what I think [Aaron] would have brought. Later on, […] once the Governor went psychotic, I think everybody was up for grabs, really.
Marquand: I think Aaron’s always been desiring of community and helping rebuild the world, but he’s also a great judge of character, so I feel like, if it was the early days, he’d be like, “This guy seems all right but I’m gonna keep an eye on him,” but much like Michonne, as the series goes on in Season 3, I think she’s the one that first starts to kind of poke holes in [the Governor’s] world. It’s Andrea that’s kind of like, “He seems fine!” And they sleep together and it’s all good! [Uneasy laughter from audience]
Morrissey: It was wonderful, after we slept together. It was fine. [Audience laughs] What could have gone wrong?
Marquand: But I think they would have gotten along, at first, too. I agree.
Morrissey: But, also, I think what the Governor was doing was he was presenting one personality to his populous, and what you saw was him doing something else privately. I think, for a while, the people in his community thought he was a good guy; only the audience knew that he was scheming behind and doing things he shouldn’t have been doing. But yeah, I think if we would have met at that time, Aaron would have fit in really well.
A fan asked if they ever stop and think about how strange their jobs are.
Morrissey: Yeah, I feel that about 20 times a day. I used to feel that way a lot. As a younger actor, I used to think, “This is ridiculous, that I’m earning money like this” – particularly when I thought about how my parents went to work. I thought, “Here I am, dressing up in a costume.” But I feel that less now. [Now,] I’m very proud and lucky to do my job. I do this thing – Andrew Lincoln and I used to do this a lot – we’d be somewhere in the middle of some field, boiling hot, covered in blood, sort of sweating [due to] having done scenes of running away from zombies and stuff, and Andrew would turn to me and go, “Isn’t this great?” And you had to do that. I constantly, now, as an actor, remind myself that I am living my dream! My dream, as a kid, was to be a working actor, and that’s what I’m doing. I have to remind myself to appreciate every moment of the day [that] I’m doing it. There are aspects of my job – our job – which [are] ridiculous, but how great is that? That’s great, as well. I have to […] really remind myself[,] whereas, as a younger actor, I would slightly think, “What are you doing, David? You should be building things. You should be… look at your hands! You’ve never done a day’s work in your life.” I don’t think that now. I’m really proud of my job, and I know it’s hard work, as well. I’m much more in tune with it than I used to be.
Marquand: I think, for me, Season 6, where Maggie and I are trying to find Glen and we get stuck in the sewers and I was covered in fake poop… That, for me, was one of those moments where I was like, “Wow. I made it.” [Audience laughs] It was just such a surreal thing because the art department on our show is probably the best art department I’ve ever worked with and they do such a good job. From what I understand, they took Snickers bars and ground them up in a blender, but only so much, and they just poured gallons and gallons of what looks like… Sorry, if this is grossing you out. You watch “The Walking Dead,” so it probably isn’t grossing you out. [Audience laughs] But we’re just covered in this stuff and we’re swimming around in this, and it was really low lighting. I remember the zombie that was going to kill me was coming out, right between my legs, and I was like, “[Exclaims]” I didn’t have my glasses on [and] I had terrible vision before I got LASIK, and this thing swiped at my face and got a chunk of my eyeball and everything. He, immediately, was apologizing profusely because he couldn’t see because he’s got lenses on his eyes, and we’re both just in this apology cycle: “I’m sorry!” “No, I’m sorry!” “No, I’m sorry!” We’re both covered in crap. “Oh no! I’m sorry!” “No, I’m sorry! I should have reacted faster!” It was just, like, what are we doing? We’re both just covered in poop and we’re apologizing to each other, and he’s a zombie. It was cool. So yeah, that was a moment for me.
The panel moderator asked Marquand what TWD fans can expect from the final eight episodes of the series.
Marquand, doing an impression of Donald Trump: Everybody
dies. Everybody dies. It’s very sad. It’s a very sad day for everybody.
Literally, everybody in the show, they just all die. [Audience cheers and
hollers] It’s very sad, the ending. You gotta believe me. Believe me: you’re
gonna cry your hearts out, ok? You’ve never seen something so sad in your
entire life. It’s all death. Nothing but death. Blood, sweat, tears. Everyone
dies. It’s very sad. You’ll love it. You’ll love it. [Audience cheers]
*****
Have you stuck with "The Walking Dead" to the end of the series? Do you have a favorite character from the series? Let us know in the comments section, on Twitter (here and here) or on Facebook.
And for everything else FanX-related, keep it right here with Signs of the Times.
We are back once again with another season of our highly anticipated, incredibly scientific power rankings! This time around, we publish the results for "Stranger Things: Season 4," as a follow-up to our previous power rankings for Season 3 and Season 2. Apparently, and this is news to us, we didn't do power rankings for Season 1, which is... regrettable.
Hot on the heels of the fourth season of Netflix's wildly popular streaming show, we asked around 700 of our closest Facebook friends to answer a handful of questions. Needless to say, we did not receive 700 responses. However, we finally wrangled up enough answers to put together some believable data.
Before we proceed - and this should be super obvious - if you haven't yet watched "Stranger Things: Season 4," you should not continue reading this blog. If you're a fan of the show and you're all the way caught up, however, you're surely chomping at the bit to see what people's opinions were, so give us just one more second here...
Insert obligatory spoiler warning:
As usual, we asked those who took our survey to rank the top "Stranger Things" characters, in order of their importance to the plot. This time around, we also asked them to rank those same characters, from "favorite" to "least favorite."
A couple notes about the ranking questions:
We gave a list of 20 characters from this season, which was a lot to ask, but we're eternally grateful for those who devoted a few minutes of their time to do so.
Because the "power rankings" survey is recurring, we included the +/- movement that characters featured in previous polls experienced. Because this was the first time we've done a "favorite character" poll, we don't have any previous polls to compare for movement.
There were five characters in this season's polls that did not appear in the Season 3 poll.
In the event of a tie (there was one in each poll), the characters will share a ranking and be listed alphabetically.
In addition to the two ranking polls, we asked eleven multiple choice or short-answer questions, two of which were optional.
With no further ado, here are the results:
Season 4 Power Rankings Survey
Biggest movers: Max Mayfield (+10), Erica Sinclair (-8)
New this season: Doctor Brenner (Papa)
Dropped from rankings: Billy Hargrove, Alexei, Mayor Larry Kline
Most powerful: No one ranked Eleven lower than #2.
Season 4 Favorite Character Survey
People person: Everyone who took this survey had Steve Harrington in their Top Three.
Question 1: Describe Vecna in one sentence.
"Twisted and tormented, yet powerful and looking for vengeance."
"Creepy as heck but less scary as the season goes on."
"The Devil."
"Pure evil awesomeness."
"Eeeevvvviiilll!"
"The ultimate picture of vengeance wrapped up with perfect storytelling."
"The artist formerly known as One formerly known as Henry Creel."
"Pants or no pants? That is the question."
Question 2: Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)" is...
Question 3: Pineapple on pizza is...
Question 4: Who was Season 4's MVP?
Question 5: Other than an MVP candidate, whose performance in Season 4 was most pleasantly surprising?
Question 6: Whose performance in Season 4 was most disappointing?
Question 7: What deserves a trophy for "Moment of the Season"?
Question 8: Which of the main characters is most likely to die in Season 5? (Pick two)
Eleven - 62.5%
Steve Harrington - 50%
Will Byers - 50%
Mike Wheeler - 12.5%
Question 9: Rate Season 4, on a scale from 1 (bad) to 5 (amazing)
5 - 62.5%
4 - 37.5%
Question 10: Make a bold prediction for Season 5.
"Mike and Eleven will break up again."
"Vecna uses Will against the others."
"Max will come back to live and will have gained some of Eleven’s powers. She will fight Vecna again and possibly take over for Eleven should she die."
"Will is to Vecna as Harry Potter is to Voldemort. Vecna will use Eddie to torment Dustin. Max will wake up with powers."
"Max gets powers."
"It ends with Will. Will’s death will be necessary to end it (whether the Mind Flayer uses him after Vecna or some other connection)."
"Hopper remembers that he absolutely wrecked his ankle with a pickaxe and begins to walk with a slight limp."
Question 11: Do you have any other thoughts not covered by the previous questions?
"They did a great job of spreading the work among the characters, and each different story was interesting. It didn't feel as much like there was a main character this season."
"The end of Season 4 Episode 1 was the scariest thing they've ever done in the entire series. Legitimately terrifying. Episode 7 was masterful - nearly perfect and one of the best episodes of TV that I've seen in years. Also, I don't know what happened with Robin, but her dialogue got, like, so dumb in the final two or three episodes. Overall, very strong season."
"I wanted more from Jason’s death. He was too annoying to die so quickly."
"It was hard to choose between Eddie and Max for MVP, and Eddie’s metal concert and Hopper’s sword fighting for best moment."
"I think it was good but that they should have ended it with Season 4. I was ready for a kick-A ending. Also, how are they possibly gonna make it scarier? Sheesh."
"They killed Eddie too soon. I saw it coming but I wish he could have stayed for the final season (or at least graduated high school ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜). Also I’m still upset that he’s the villain of Hawkins after the 'earthquake.'"
*****
Well, there you have it! What did we get right? What did we get wrong? What thoughts do you have about Season 4? How do you think they'll wrap this all up? Let us know in the comments section below, on Twitter (here and here) or hit us up on Facebook.
I like to keep track of things. It's a strange habit that only OCD weirdos like me can appreciate. I write down a lot of stuff that pretty much means nothing. Take, for instance, those blogs I've written over the past few years about my MLB TV viewing habits. Nobody cares about that stuff, but I write it all down anyway.
Back when COVID-19 started hitting the United States really hard in March 2020, my employer decided to send everybody home from the office. At the time, I thought it was a dramatic but precautionary measure that needed to be taken to help people feel safe. I figured we'd go home for two weeks and come right back to the office, like normal.
I never wanted to work from home. I figured, "If I'm working, let me be at work." I'd prefer to keep home and work separate and just put in my 40 hours a week and be done with it. But if they needed me to take my laptop home and do work in front of my flat screen TV for a few days, I had better take advantage of that time!
I figured that I could just have the TV running the entire time and watch as many movies and TV shows as I possibly could before they sent us back to the office, and I'd keep track of everything so I could go back and impress my coworkers with this enormous list of stuff I'd seen. (By the way, there is no way my coworkers would ever be impressed with anything I did in my personal life, so it was flawed logic from the very beginning.)
Well, they sent us home and I got to work. I started up a Google doc, then every time I watched something, I added it to a bulleted list. The list grew from day to day as I bounced from movie to movie and TV season to TV season. I was so proud of myself. Yet, they were hesitant to send us back to the office because nobody really understood COVID - how long it would last, whether it was safe for us to resume gathering again or any of that stuff. We stayed home and I kept binge-watching as much as I could.
Another thing I did was that I went to IMDb.com and rated everything, once I finished it. This OCD-fueled habit was inspired by a former coworker, who introduced me to it. He claimed to have rated every movie and TV show he had ever seen in his entire life, which I thought was a bit extreme until I went in and started doing it myself. I don't think I'm anywhere close to having rated everything I've watched (I occasionally find something that I missed), but I've rated a good chunk of it, at this point. One nice thing about doing this is that, if you're watching a show and say, "I swear, I know that person from something," you can open up the IMDb app and it will show you if that particular actor or actress appears in anything you've rated. This has been helpful to me many times. (Editor's note: anything that's not linked to IMDb in the following list is either something I watched multiple times, something that wasn't on IMDb or a later season of a show previously linked higher in the list, since IMDb doesn't let you rate individual seasons - only the show as a whole.)
Fast forward to the year 2022. I've now completed two full years of working from home. My company says they intend for this situation to remain permanent, meaning that they have no future plans of making us return to the office. I don't rabidly binge as much content as I did in the early days of COVID, and I certainly don't eat as many Milk Duds as I did those first two weeks, but I did keep track of basically everything I watched this entire time. The list has become... quite extensive.
Now, when I say that I kept track of basically everything that I've watched, it means that I didn't record any live sports I watched (other than the aforementioned MLB games, which I tracked separately) and I didn't write down anything like the news or LDS General Conference. There are probably also a couple things missing from the list, such as TV shows that repeatedly took breaks, making it unclear whether the season was actually over. (I only recorded a full season of a TV show when I had finished the season, which proved difficult to determine if I was watching it as it aired, as opposed to clearly defined seasons on Netflix and Hulu.)
I'd be remiss if I failed to mention the avenues I used to accomplish the monumental oddness of this project: live TV, Netflix, Hulu, VUDU, HBO Max, Peacock, Amazon Prime, VidAngel, my own physical DVD/Blu-ray library and, most recently, Paramount+. If nothing else, I've certainly gotten my money's worth out of my streaming services during the pandemic.
It is also of note that I utilized edited-for-TV versions of movies, as well as VidAngel, to censor many movies and TV shows that I would not have had the moral fiber to watch otherwise. My DVR was loaded with late-night recordings of movies, pretty much this entire time. So if anyone wants to judge me for watching anything on my list that is outrageously profane, violent or inappropriate, you can just go ahead and assume that I watched a cleaned-up version of it.
As I hit the two-year anniversary of being sent home from the office, I decided to pull the plug on my documentation. In the past few weeks, I've felt like I started to slip up in how diligently I'd record the things I was watching, and I figured that if there was ever an appropriate time to stop, an anniversary was suffice. What, was I just going to keep writing this stuff down forever? Nah, I don't think so. Also, I know how few people will be impressed with the two years of data that I scrounged up, so going on any further would have just been a waste of energy.
I had considered blogging about all of this, just to get it out there in writing, but it was also requested that I publish the list by a Facebook friend, so who knows? Maybe one person will actually read this post. That's a success, in and of itself.
With no further ado, here is basically everything I watched for two years, between March 2020 and March 2022 - and I've even taken the painstaking effort of looking up my IMDb ratings and hyperlinking all the unique titles, in case you wanted to know if this stuff was any good:
Was this an interesting project or a colossal waste of time? You be the judge! If nothing else, it gives me an endless supply of ammunition to annoy my siblings with for the rest of eternity. When one of my brothers asked me tonight why I was doing this, I sort of shrugged and said, "Just to get it out there." Now that it's "out there," I don't need to worry about it ever again, but at least if I ever want to look back on the hours and hours I spent in front of the television during a global pandemic, I'll know where to look.
Go ahead, roast me for my ratings and the stuff I watched over these past two years. If you agree with me, let me know. If you disagree with me, let me hear it. Certainly, this is all just my opinion, so I'm open to a little friendly debate. Leave a comment on this post, follow me on Twitter (here and here) or leave me a little 🗣 emoji on Facebook. Looking forward to the commentary.
