We waited for the American Dad panel for about an hour, and weren't even close to the front of the line. A short, well-suited man walked along the length of the line and randomly whispered something in a German accent to a guy a few yards behind me. It fell on deaf ears though, and the man walked away smirking.
Was I the only one who recognized that it was Dee Bradley Baker, the voice of Klaus (the goldfish), trying to amuse patiently waiting fans? What the hell, he went completely unnoticed!
The panel was supposed to start at 3:30, yet, at that time, people were still pouring into the ballroom.
“Get to know your neighbors” a Con staffer urged several times, suggesting we smush together. Nobody seemed to listen.
The American Dad panel started just a few minutes late. I'm sure its a lot harder to herd the thousand or so fans into organized rows of little blue chairs than it looks.
The series' theme song signaled the start of the event, but it was when the song strangely morphed into Elastica's Connection, that the cast ran across the stage, smiling and exuberant, like athletes before a game.
Every single person in the ballroom went absolutely nuts.
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Delighted fans were blessed with a live reading of the episode “The 42 Year Old Virgin” interspersed with clips of the actual episode (directed by Pam Cook) shown on the big screen.
It's the one where we learn that Stan's never actually killed anyone, but he's embarrassed and tries to hide it from his CIA buddies.
“You wouldn't know him, he lives in Canada.”
Seth MacFarlane (voice of Stan and Roger) sipped a beer between flopping back and forth between voices, doing vocal acrobatics. Clearly the star of the show, the most impressive moments are the entire scenes he conducts on his own.
The audience ate it up. After every one-liner, funny or not, everybody laughed.
The episode wasn't new, but I doubt anyone had seen it like this.
Poor Stan starts to lose himself in a spiral of shame, completely immasculated by the fact he's never killed anyone. Luckily a pedophile moves in down the street and starts and driving an ice cream truck.
Well, actually an “ice cream and naps” truck.
“When you find the one, you'll know” comforts Roger
End of act one: everyone applauds.
The crowd's ecstatic vibe begins to affect the actors, who now have difficulty maintaining professionalism.
Wendy Schaal , voice of Francine, is too shy to act out a masterbating scene in front of so many people. Giggles ripple through the crowd and the panel alike.
Now the panel starts laughing after every one liner. The energy is infectious.
The end of the show results in a standing ovation.
It's a matter of only seconds before a crowd lines up to approach the mic to ask the panel questions.
One guy asks about a Family Guy and American Dad crossover, to which the answer is not likely.
“The miniseries died in the 80s” MacFarlane responds, “The trick is to find a way to to do it while doing the series at the same time, which takes 7 days (a week). That's why The Simpson's took so long. They were doing a series at the same time.”
One young lady approaches the microphone and is greeted with “Theres a girl here!”
The crowd snickers.
She wants to know what the inspiration was to start American Dad.
“We hated Bush” MacFarlane snaps.
The crowd roars.
Someone wants to know if Adam Corrola coming back?
“Who?' they joke.
“Yes, Adam is coming back” MacFarlane answers seriously and the panel seems eager to move on to the next question.
The next few questions are directed towards MacFarlane specifically.
“You put your magic fingers into many different shows”, a fan asks, raising howls of laughter (the time he spent on that clever comment pays off), “like Robot Chicken and Johnny Bravo, which other ones have you worked on, so i can go get them?”
“I did a Gilmore Girls, you can go buy that.”
One woman asks him about his singing voice, he reveals that along with the help of the 40 piece orchestra American Dad uses every week, MacFarlane also trained with vocal coaches, an elderly couple who have also trained Frank Sinatra and Barbara Streisand in the past.
His favorite movie?
“The Sound Of Music,” to which a few females shout their appreciation while one man boos loudly, “all the ladies are cheering so i don't give a shit”
The last question goes to a stuttering twelve year old who can barely get out his name, let alone his inquiry.
I think he finally asked where they get they're ideas
“You need magic fingers to get these jokes.” was the answer.
