The last Supergate panel of Dragon*Con was packed with stars from Stargate: SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis. Jason Momoa, Torri Higginson, Robert Picardo, and Cliff Simon started the panel, but a ripple of confusion went through the capacity crowd when Joe Flanigan and Richard Dean Anderson were conspicuously absent. It wasn’t a long wait, though, before Flanigan and finally Anderson joined the panel, both to cheers and applause.
The audience placed their questions on cards before the panel started and then the moderator read them from the stage, which really seemed to keep the panel moving, even if Anderson had trouble hearing all the questions. At one point, he even stepped out into the audience to see if he could hear any better. It turned out, yes, he could.
One question for the entire panel was whether they had any idea what they were getting into when they joined the cast and if they were at all prepared for the fans and the conventions. Flanigan said that he screened Galaxy Quest for the cast and at the end Higginson wasn’t sure if she should laugh or cry. Momoa said he did his San Diego Comic Con panel before his episodes even started to air and it was one of the scariest things he’d ever done. Higginson agreed, saying that she thought only a few people would show up since at the time of her first panel, the show hadn’t aired at all yet. Instead, it seemed like enough people to fill a football field had turned out. “It was terrifying and wonderful,” she said.
The only panelist who said he was prepared for what was coming was Picardo, since he had been involved in “a minor franchise” that he refused to name and had some experience with conventions. “Who would not like this?” he said, gesturing to the audience.
With all of the guests on the panel and the quick banter between them, responding to each question took several minutes and the hour seemed to fly by. Before everyone knew it, the moderator was announcing that it was the last question. Simon took the time to thank the fans for everything that they have done and for coming out to see them.
