Once More With Feeling Screening: Comic-Con 2008

Sunday, July 28, 2008
San Diego Convention Center, Ballroom 20

The screening of Once More With Feeling happened only after the powers that be at Comic Con negotiated with 20thCentury Fox, after a year of legal obstacles to permit this popular episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to be splashed across the four big screens in Ballroom 20. And Whedonopolis was tapped to present this event, providing prizes and giveaways in the form of buttons and finger puppets and "parking tickets" to go with the singing and dancing anticipated by Buffy fans well heeled in the lyrics and the waving of lit cellphones.

Given that this was the last event of the con, there was some worry that attendance would be sparce, as many made their way home catching flights, or stacked on the asphalt ribbon of Interstate 5, heading north. There was the doomsday vision of a tiny group of people huddled together in the first rows of Ballroom 20 walking through the fire. However, by about halfway through Deepak Chopra talking behind his Cylon-red glasses in the preceding panel, reports were drifting in from the redshirts on the lines that Ballroom 20 would be a full house. Indeed, once the Buffistas came into the room, Ballroom 20 was filled all the way to the back, and Whedonopolis and Comic Con staff were frantically passing out goodies before the first chords sent us into "Every single night, the same arrangement" accompanied by thunderous cheering.

The Closing Event, a fullhouse success, was on its way, with enthusiastic participation, much to the piqued curiosity of the tired and laconic redshirts, sitting behind the curtain offstage, listening to the crowd. At one point, the crowd reacted loudly, and one of the Elite supervisors leaped up to respond to what sounded like trouble in the mob. But it was just Buffy fans reacting to Spike’s musical proclamation of dying. "Listen to them goin’ crazy," said one Elite member, retired Navy and never having seen Buffy. And indeed they were, waving glowing cellphones on cue and, in the tradition of all singalongs, singing along to the greeny lyrics subtitled onscreen beautifully by Whedonopolis’ own Josh Rubenstein.

When the last note ended on the big-screen kiss between Buffy and Spike, there was applause thunder-worthy of a true Ballroom 20 crowd to match the Joss Whedon and BSG panels. And then the final announcement – the final event of the 2008 Comic Con, closed in grand fashion by Whedon/Buffy fans. Floating on a musical high, we started making our way out of the now-familiar ballroom, when Comic Con had one more surprise for us - would we screen this for WonderCon in San Franciscoin February? Is the Evil League of Evil evil?

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