When I was in 4th grade I had a hermit crab named Rider Taylor Keegan. If you’ve seen the lineup for this past year’s 90s con, you will know that I was beyond excited that 2 of the 3 namesakes were in attendance. (Will I ever meet that elusive 3rd? I don’t know – but I’m hoping some day it will happen!) I went for all 3 days this year, but due to some medical issues I tried to stay seated in the panels for as much of the con as I could. This meant I met less celebrities, but honestly there were only a couple I was thinking about trying to meet in addition to the ones I did manage to see.
Friday there were no panels so that was the day I opted to do my Boy Meets World cast photo. There were 9 cast members in attendance – William Daniels (Mr Feeny), Danielle Fishel (Topanga), Rider Strong (Shawn), Will Friedle (Eric), Trina McGee (Angela), Betsy Randle (Amy Matthews), William Russ (Alan Matthews), Anthony Tyler Quinn (Mr Turner), Bonnie Bartlett (Dean Bolander) I was the first one to enter the photo op with my “Best Is Grumpy” pod meets world shirt which Rider was really excited about and the rest of the cast applauded me. We took the photo and they said it was good so I went to leave, only for them to say we were going to take a second photo. This time Danielle yelled “RIDER! DO GRUMPY” so I was able to get 2 photos (BONUS! as screamed by Tony Quinn when they said we were taking a second) and have a grumpy Rider pose in photo #2.
After the photo op I met up with a friend, we went to see Jeff and Drew from 98 Degrees and then Andrew Keegan. I cased out where I’d need to be for Geena Davis on Sunday morning and we ended up heading out to grab dinner.
Saturday morning first thing I went and lined up for the panels as they were kicking off with Boy Meets World. I managed to get an ADA seat about 4 rows back in the center and stayed there through Sabrina the Teenage Witch and 98 Degrees. The Boys Meets World panel had the same cast members as my photos – Bill Daniels came on stage to a wild ovation – the man will be turning 97 at the end of the month and is still doing these cons to meet the fans. Amazing. He is a bit hard of hearing, but Bonnie helps him out by repeating questions and he will tell a story or two. The Sabrina cast was without Caroline Rhea but did have Quiz Master Alimi Ballard instead! To finish up my first shift of panels was Jeff and Drew from 98 degrees. After that panel I left to have a quick snack and went downstairs for my Hollywood Darling Photo Op. With some time before hand I managed to get a photo with the Golden Gays, which I had missed out on last year.
I was a little worried with a 2:50 photo op and a 3pm panel I wanted to see I wouldn’t make it in, but I was about the 3rd for Hollywood Darlings (Jodie Sweetin, Beverly Mitchell and Christine Lakin) and made my way upstairs for Dawson’s Creek with James Van Der Beek and Kerr Smith and a very kind volunteer found me an ADA spot in the 8th row. I had considered leaving early, but decided since I had a decent spot I’d stay for the Full House panel with Dave Coulier and Jodie Sweetin – and good thing I did because Andrew Keegan showed up to apologize for his character on the show.
Then I had some time to eat dinner and relax before the After Party. They ended up letting ADA in “first” from a further door and then let the VIPs in as well and so it was pure chaos. I opted to just sit in the back. Jodi Benson came out relatively early to perform “Part Of Your World” and said she had hoped to be in her PJs and in bed by 8:30pm. Goals. Jeff and Drew from 98 Degrees (or is it 49 degrees?) came out next and performed “I Do” and “Because of You” and then did a bit of “Because of You” with a fan. I ended up leaving after that because I was exhausted and it was going to become a karaoke party. I guess I missed out on some more Andrew Keegan fun, but I am pretty sure I made the right choice to get some sleep.
Sunday I had an autograph with Geena Davis at 10:15. I got in line and had met her and gotten my baseball signed by 10:13 (thanks for being early, Geena!) and that gave me enough time to get upstairs and get in line for the panels. They let ADA in first – which somehow was only me?! I got a spot in the 3rd row on the side and that was where I stayed all day! The first panel was “And the Award Goes To” with Geena Davis, Susan Sarandon and Mira Sorvino and that was probably my most favorite panel of the whole weekend. They were so real and honest with us – Mira even teared up about her career being stifled by Harvey Weinstein and they talked about how there are still people who knew what was happening and letting it happen in the business and that needed to change. The next panel was 7th Heaven with Beverly Mitchell (Lucy), Barry Watson (Matt), Catherine Hicks (Mom), Mackenzie Rosman (Ruthie) and David Gallagher (Simon). They talked a lot about their auditions, how they became a family and are still in touch with “Jessie” (Jessica Biel). Up next was Disney Princesses – Jodi Benson (Ariel) and Linda Larkin (Jasmine). There was originally supposed to be a couple more princesses in attendance but they unfortunately had to drop out but I think they handled the panel just the two of them really well and the kids had some adorable questions for them! Next up was Step By Step – Patrick Duffy (Frank), Staci Keenan (Dana), Angela Watson (Karen), Christine Lakin (Al), Brandon Call (JT), Christopher Castile (Mark), Sasha Mitchell (Cody) and Jason Marsden (Rich). They started off by talking a bit about Susanne Somers who was the Mom on the show and recently passed away. The crowd went wild when Sasha spoke – and was exactly like Cody – and lost it again when Sasha laughed – and it was exactly like Cody. It was interesting to hear what sort of jobs the ones who left the business have now – and they all seem really happy with where they are at! 3pm brought Hey Dude – David Lascher (Ted), Christine Taylor (Melody), Kelly Brown (Brad) and Josh Tygiel (Buddy) – the highlight of this panel was them all singing the theme song! Josh also brought some photos of when he visited the area the set was recently and showed what was left of it. The final panel of the day and of the con was with the “core 4” from Roswell – Jason Behr (Max), Brendan Fehr (Michael), Shiri Appleby (Liz) and Majandra Delfino (Maria). The most impressive part of this panel was how Jason was just rattling off the titles of all the episodes that they were talking about like it was nothing!
I then went to my room and had a bite to eat before grabbing an uber to the Pod Meets World Live show at the Bushnell, about 10 minutes away. Mr Turner was walking out looking confused and when he showed up at the theater about 10 minutes after me, I slightly regretted not offering him a ride in my uber.
I wasn’t sure what to expect with the show compared to Boston – but they did manage to switch things up a lot. Rider’s poem had some CT centric items in it, and of course some parts about Will Friedle being from here. The skit ended up having Mr Turner, the Matthews parents and Angela in it and then all of them joined for the Q&A. Will did some CT trivia with Danielle and Rider (which seemed to SHOCK them and I loved it) and there was a new skit added to the end. Overall it was so much fun and I am so glad I went again! My only regret was that I didn’t get the M&G – initially I thought I’d be going home right after but opted to stay over another night instead so I definitely had the time for it. Oh well. Next time!
Katie 
