Close encounters of the Chiller kind

Going to Chiller is always an adventure. It's different than the "big" comic conventions, in some ways, it's less expensive -- except apparently in the case of Dawn Wells of "Gilligan's Island" fame. And it takes place mainly on one floor of a hotel, in different rooms ranging from grandiose to teenie-weenie.

So when I heard five of the people I wanted to see at the October 2014 convention were in the same room, it should have been the cause of celebration. Instead it was a cause for concern. At one of the more recent conventions, that room housed a "Jaws" faction -- props along the back wall, production designer extraordinaire Joe Alves along the right side, artist Roger Kastiel along the left side and the deputy (Jeff Kramer), the skinny dipper (Susan Backlinie) and the journalist/screenplay writer (Carl Gottlieb) along the front side. It worked very well then.

I really couldn't fathom how they possibly planned to put the "Happy Days" contingent -- Henry Winkler, Marion Ross and Cindy Williams, a four-person "Baywatch" group, Oscar-nominated actresses Teri Garr and Lesley Ann Warren, sister-and-brother team Kristy and Jimmy McNichol, Diana Canova of "Soap" and Butch Patrick of "The Munsters." It didn't seem like there would be room enough for them to breathe, let alone the lines they would bring in.

Therefore, my game plan was to go to that room first during the one-hour pre-show, get the celebrities who came down early, and basically hang around until I got everyone I wanted to get in there. It did work like a charm.

When we got in the first person I saw Marion Ross, just looking so much like Mrs. C, even though almost FOUR decades have past. And she was just as sweet as you would think Richie and Joanie's mom would be. So cordial, even though she has to have been told that people grew up watching her, what, a billion times? I also mentioned her "Night Court" appearance, we laughed about how her character related more TV characters than real people and when she gave the laundry list, "The Fonz" had been one of those names. She also appeared on "The John Larroquette Show," that guest shot was probably one she didn't hear as much about from fans over the weekend.

By then, Henry Winkler's line was out the door and Teri Garr's line was starting to form (even though she wasn't there yet). As Teri was my No. 1 priority at the event, we got on that line. But then a strange and wonderful thing happened. And this has never happened to me in the history of conventions. (I think I'm enough of a seasoned veteran now to make that proclamation.) Henry Winkler walked up and down his line, shaking hands and thanking people for waiting for him. How precious is he?

So we switched over to his side and waited for our turn to talk to him more personally. Around this time, one of the more stringent of Chiller's security personnel tried to clean up the lines in the room. Henry's was out the door, Teri's was out the door and everything else was kind of devil-may-care. The "Baywatch" people, whose table we stood alongside, weren't even in the room yet, and there was already not enough room for people to come and go.

Anyway, not even half-hour later, there goes Henry up and down his line again thanking people. Just so charming. MORE charming than Fonzie. Ayyyyy! I got to say something about how I grew up on "Happy Days" and I had just watched "Night Shift" that week and he was so wonderful on "Arrested Development" and it was a massive run-on sentence (a lot like this one). The way he really listened and then said, "Thank you so much" was about as heart-felt as I've heard from any celeb ever.

By this time, Lesley Ann Warren was on the scene. She's a big favorite of mine, particularly from "Clue" and "Victor/Victoria," but I'll watch anything she's in. I told her what a huge fan I am and apologized ahead of time for wanting to focus on Miss Scarlet, because that movie I've probably seen more than any other one. I knew that she replaced Carrie Fisher in the role just before they started filming and said I couldn't imagine anyone else in the role. More very genuine thanks and her addition that "sometimes it just works out that way" in Hollywood.

Then, the polarizing moment. Mark had been taking pictures for me, while I was talking with the celeb and the posed shots as well. Lesley Ann saw him out of the corner of her eye and playfully chided her with her finger until I said "he's with me." There's an unwritten rule that you don't take pictures at Chiller if you're not with that particular person at the time. Mark said he really got scared that she was gonna smack him down, but I thought she was really sweet about it and not offended at all.

So I continued on my "Clue" diatribe after that about how the film really didn't reach an audience until it got out on video, but I was one of the people who had actively sought out movie houses playing the different endings when it was released in theaters. She was impressed at that. And we took our picture together and I told her how absolutely wonderful she looked. I added that she would meet a lot of "Clue" fans that weekend, but to remember that I'd be the biggest one. When we bid farewell, she thanked me by name. It seems like such a small thing, but it means a lot when they remember your name long enough to do that.

After that, it was time to get on the Teri Garr line. And while it was a bit frustrating, it had to be a lot easier on us than it would wind up being for those coming on Saturday. The door of the tiny room was getting really crowded with people who seemed to be pretending they wanted to be in the room, only to jam themselves on Teri or Henry's lines when the security personnel asked us regularly to "move back."

But it was also during this time that I was "recognized" myself. Eric Ackerman, someone I've talked to online and specifically in the Fans of John H. Reilly group on Facebook, asked if I was the Paige who does the John and Sharon Wyatt sites. I was really taken aback ... for 30 seconds. Then we started chatting like old friends. He told me great stories about one of the "General Hospital" Fan Club gatherings, and especially about John's wife Liz, who I adore anyway. That's when I heard of Dawn Wells' $100 pricetag, oh well, I wasn't going for her anyway. While we waited, Jeremy Jackson of "Baywatch" amusingly stopped to take a cell phone picture of a poster of himself on the wall.

Teri arrived, by wheelchair as she suffers from multiple sclerosis, and slowly but surely, the line began to move. Now the thing is, you wait your turn, and then everything is stuffed into about a two-minute span, including the part in which you pay. So first she took note of my "This means something" mashed potatoes shirt from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" -- have I mentioned that's my all-time favorite movie in a while? And she said "that was a great scene" while I was digging out my bills. Then I gave up my treasured lobby card for her signature, and although she's understandably soft-spoken, she said something so sweet that I'll never forget it -- "That was a wonderful film." Exactly the way I feel.

Even though it's difficult for her, she didn't even just sign her name, she added "with love." Mark got a nice photo of me with Teri when we were setting up for our picture, as I told her I've been a big fan of her career. She's just one of those actresses who absolutely no one else is like. And that's a real special gift. We took a really nice picture (or a couple as Mark has been well-schooled in the Lorrie art of getting more than one) and I wished her well for the weekend, although I have to admit I got increasingly concerned about her in such a small space for the whole weekend.

And then off to see the McNichols! This was a strange one, because there was Jimmy's small table and Kristy's to the right of that and Jimmy was available first, so we started talking. I, of course, mentioned what I do for Sharon and John because he was on "General Hospital" back in the day. He quickly pointed to a picture he had brought with him for autographing purposes from those days. And then I saw the CD. Now I used to have Kristy and Jimmy's album, and I clearly remember dancing around my bedroom in my formative years to it. So that I had to pretty much had to get.

Then the whole thing gets confusing. Because you could get a picture with them both, which I wanted, and they both would sign the CD and then I was also getting an autographed photo of Kristy for a friend. I'm not really sure how that went down, there's a good possibility I was overcharged, since there was no CD-photo-autograph price. And I think Jimmy made up the autographed CD price on the spot.

The really cute moment, though, was Jimmy pointing out one of their songs was called "Page by Page." He really found that amusing, considering what my name is, and even called Kristy over to laugh about it. She then promptly spelled my name wrong on the CD. But I have to say again, she was really personable, all happiness and light and listened attentively to everything I had to say. Her reaction didn't seem like someone who was hearing something for the kajillionth time. This had to be the most appreciative crop of Chillerites I've run across.

She had a great assortment of pictures on her table and I wasn't sure which to pick for Rowdy Ron, so I had her just pick out her favorite. She was going to just write "to Rowdy," which I found hysterical for some reason. When I added that it was for a lifelong superfan in Florida, he got an extra "Hey!" written on his photo.

Finally, we were able to leave the Room of Doom. Too small, Chiller, way too small. Especially when we got into some of the larger rooms and guests had no visitors at their tables. Wouldn't it have been better to give Teri Garr some space and some air? How do you not see it when you're designing who will sit where? But I digress.

On to the Tatum O'Neal line! She co-starred with Kristy in "Little Darlings," and it's really too bad that hasn't been released officially, because I would have had them both sign my copy. She was in the big wide "Living Room" thankfully. And we ran into our new friends, Eric and mom Audrey again. It really made the time pass swiftly being able to talk with them about who they've seen and what those people were like (although I didn't know about Brad Dourif until I started writing this blog!)

In fact, we spent so much time talking that I didn't "prepare" for getting to the front of the line. And I totally forgot the name of the movie I wanted to mention to her -- "Circle of Two" with Richard Burton. So I gave some generic line about being a big fan. How boring, I mean everyone says that! "Circle of Two," now that would have been something.

But Tatum definitely provided the comedic highlight of the evening. She was giving Mark serious direction on how to take photos with a cell phone. "Lift it higher ... higher!" she urged. I didn't mind, I was getting a tight hug the whole time. "Higher! Higher!" Mark still wasn't doing it right, so her handler took over and snapped a few pictures. And darn if the Oscar winner for "Paper Moon" wasn't right. The pictures were better when taken higher.

Mark did take this advice to heart for the rest of the night. With both William B. Davis and Joe Pantoliano, he professed to be from the Tatum O'Neal school of picture taking, raising his cell phone aloft for both.

I was excited about seeing Bill Davis, who played the Cigarette Smoking Man on "The X-Files" so Xcellently. He had no line, so I got to talk to him quite a bit about the one episode he wrote for the show, "En Ami." I asked whether it wound up like he had envisioned it, and he said it seemed really different, particularly at the end when he throws a disc with important information into the lake. The ending kind of came off as ambivelent, when Davis said what he really wanted to show was that CSM was not that bad. I guess Chris Carter and the powers-that-be wanted something a little less obvious and more subject to interpretation, though.

Then we talked about the episode's title "En Ami," which if you pronounce it as straight French means "a friend." Buuuut, if you just say it quickly in English, it's more like "en-emy." He seemed to appreciate that distinction being picked up. When we took the picture, he gave me a tight hug that felt about as far from away from the menacing CSM as he could possibly get. Bill also said good-bye to me by name.

My capper was a doozie, Joe Pantoliano, who has been the quirky comic relief in what seems like every movie ever. My personal favorite is "Memento," and I told him so, but he couldn't seem to hear me too well over the din in his room. But I did get some nice tight hugs for the photo -- although I'm seriously disturbed by the presence of 1.) a Rangers jersey, 2.) a scary looking hand and 3.) a photo bomber in our picture. When I look just at us, though, I'm all good.

It was a fun whirlwind of a Chiller, that's for sure. Still hoping that everything's OK in the little room with all the cool celebrities in it.