“The Hero Of Burbank… (UPDATED)

… The Man Who Played Jayne“.

Here’s how it was.

This weekend, there was supposed to be a large convention of Firefly fans (“Browncoats“, if you like) at the Burbank (CA) Airport Hilton.  Word had it that the entire cast would be there, and that there’d be plenty of shiny fun to be had.  The convention was going to be pricey — $250.00 a pop — but given the lineup, seemed reasonable.

I was otherwise occupied, but it seemed like a good time.

Until people started showing up Thursday night… to find that the convention had been canceled.

By an announcement made by the organizers, posted to a website discussion board, and a website which had been stricken except for this bland little note:

Booster Entertainment apologizes for the great inconvenience, but due to unforeseen circumstances, Flanvention is cancelled. An official notice will be posted within 10 days.

You can imagine, I suspect, how hurt and angry the fans were feeling, there in the lobby, as the word went ’round from fan to fan, with no one from the not-convention to answer anything.

Until Mr. Baldwin shows up. On his own time, unpaid, having heard of this mess.

Apparently, Adam Baldwin has been trying to work on salvaging some sort of event planned for Saturday and has called Nathan Fillion and probably a few others. This just blows me away. For these people who were expected to come and do some chats and sign some autographs to try and salvage a convention event truly earns them their Big Damn Hero moniker. I don’t care if they actually come through with it, but to even TRY… I am astonded and very proud to call myself their fan.

As of this writing, it looks like some of the cast will be heading out to the Hilton over the weekend… not because they’re being paid, but because they heard their fans got a raw deal.

Gentle readers, there aren’t nearly enough people in Hollywood who are like that. Browncoat fandom is immensely blessed; the cast and crew of Firefly and Serenity are full of this kind of mensch.

Anyone wondering how a single-season TV show got a shot at a second chance by way of a feature film?

You could do worse than to look at what’s happening in Burbank right now.

Extraordinary show. Extraordinary cast. Extraordinary fans.

I’m happy to count myself one.

UPDATE: And now the weekend’s over, and lots of people turned to to help out.

LOTS.

There will be people, reading this, who simply won’t believe it.

That’s their loss.

Me? I know browncoats. I own a browncoat. And I’m not the least bit surprised.

I’m thinking we rose, again…