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Debra Messing at the Viewers for Quality Television Convention |
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*Meeting Debra Messing at the Viewers for Quality Television (VQT) Convention in Burbank, California in October 1998: First things first.....Friday the annual fundraising auction was held during the convention. The staff of VQT collects tv memorabilia, etc. to raffle and auction during the convention. This is the main way to raise money for the organization. Needless to say, the raffle area normally has a number of photographs for various shows provided by the networks. One of the many photographs was a cast photo of Debra with her co-stars from Will & Grace. I, of course, only had my pictures from the Prey portfolio with me (in the hopes I could get her autograph the next day). I decided to buy lots of raffle tickets and take my chances at winning the photo. Fortunately, my name was picked and I won the cast photo of Debra and her co-stars. I was one step closer to my goal! Saturday the panel discussion started on time and Debra was actually there. Dorothy, VQT's President, sits up on the stage with the guests and does a question/answer session with them. After the first hour is complete, Dorothy allows the audience to ask questions. During her hour of talk with the panel, she brought up to Debra about the Prey campaign. Debra was aware of it and spoke about what she knew on our group. She also mentioned getting "a birthday card from the president of the group." I knew once that area was out in the open, I had a better opportunity of bringing the subject up during the audiences' turn at questions. Debra's co-star Eric McCormack was there and he mentioned about 10 of his fans had attended one of the Will & Grace tapings and that they all had met online and came to the taping to see him and to meet each other. His saying this was ironic because Carol Hallenbeck and Diane Golomb were coming to the hotel that same day to meet me because we all meet online thanks to the Prey MB (and Carol was my benefactor when I needed the first 6 Prey episodes on tape). I was about the fourth audience member to speak and I must say I was extremely nervous, but I had been practicing my "speech" for almost two months, since Dorothy told me via email that Debra was scheduled to attend the convention. What I said, as best I can reword it, is... "I want to digress back to something you brought up earlier Debra about the Prey for Us campaign. I am a part of that campaign." At this point she smiled and said "Oh, hi!" (I don't believe she had met any of us face to face before). I proceeded to tell her "I don't really have a question to ask, but more a statement. I wanted you to know how much all of us in the campaign loved the show. That the chemistry you and Adam Storke had in the show was incredible and that we were all glued to our sets each time the show aired." I then directed my statement to what Eric had said about the online friends meeting at their taping. I told everyone that I had 2 Prey friends coming that afternoon and it was all due to the show that we were getting to meet. I then said "I guess I do have a hypothetical question to ask you Debra." She was smiling the entire time I talked and looked directly at me and thanked me a number of times when I made the compliments to her, Adam and the show. The question was somewhat worded like this "If you had the opportunity, would you consider reprising your role in Prey if it were done as a two hour movie perhaps during your summer hiatus?" Without hesitation she said yes that she would because she enjoyed doing the show. Prior to the audience asking questions, when Dorothy brought up about Prey, Debra explained that she had just finished filming the episodes of Prey when she was offered to do the pilot for Will & Grace. She said she explained to NBC that she was still contracted to ABC for Prey and if it got picked up for a second season that the role of Grace would have to be recast because she would go back to Prey. Since it wasn't picked up that is why she went with the Will & Grace show. However, she said she was very committed to her role on Prey while it was a part of the ABC line up and she even mentioned the fact the show premiered as a mid-season replacement and had stiff competition from Friends and "then the Olympics started and the show suffered because of that." She said she felt the show was never given a fair chance to succeed. At the end of the panel discussion, Dorothy asked the guests to stay for a few moments to get "official" photographs for our newsletter. When Dorothy got her picture done with Debra and Eric, I saw Debra and Dorothy talk briefly then all of a sudden, Debra was saying my name into the microphone and was waving me to come up to the stage. Needless to say, I couldn't get past my friend Cathy fast enough. She reached out her hand and said she was SO glad to meet me and she introduced me to Eric McCormack. Before we really started talking one of the VQT photographers, who happens to be my friend and was one of my roommates for the entire convention, said do you want to get your picture taken with Debra. I, of course, said "would you do that for me?" and looked to Debra to see if she minded. She said "Of course, come on up here." I quickly walked up the steps and proceeded down to the middle of the table where she was sitting. She scooted over and allowed me to sit on her chair with her and my friend took two pictures of us. I sat on the stage with her for about 10 minutes and I explained to her that I won the photograph the day before and wondered if she would mind autographing it for me. I told her I would put it on the wall in my office and remember this day forever. I also told her a little about what our campaign has been all about and explained, briefly, about the weekly gifts. I told her about the Flu Prevention Kit sent to the executives and she looked at me with a big smile and a slightly shocked look on her face. But she did say she was very impressed by what I told her. I thanked her repeatedly and got a hug. I then left the stage because many of the other convention attendees wanted to meet with her. I went down to the main floor and thanked Dorothy for allowing me to go up on the stage. Dorothy said she knew how much it meant to me to meet and speak with her that it was quite all right. She also told me that I had done well when I spoke to her during the audience Q&A. In fact I did so well that Jamie Widdoes, who is the Executive Producer of the new ABC comedy Brother's Keeper complimented Dorothy on the well spoken member (me) while I was talking to Debra during the Q&A session. He said he was impressed that I didn't say "Uh! Umm! or You Know!" at any point in my speech. I was flabbergasted to say the least so I approached Mr. Widdoes and thanked him for the compliment at the end of the discussion. By that time we were all in the lobby waiting for the guests to leave the hotel. While I was talking to Mr. Widdoes, Debra approached to shake his hand and tell him she admired his work and wanted to have a chance to tell him that. She gave me a quick hug and another VQT photographer, another of my friends, took a picture of us (his camera does the kind of picture you can put directly online) and she, again, said she was so glad to meet me and I, of course, thanked her for being so kind. She was very, very pretty in person and so slender it made me sick, but most of the actresses in CA are that size. Regardless, it was an extreme pleasure to meet her and I wrote her a small letter thanking her, again, and I typed up a four page letter to accompany my hand written one telling her all about the weekly reminder gifts we send the executives because she seemed so impressed with the small tidbit of information I gave her while we were on the stage talking. I plan on purchasing the video tape of that panel discussion. The VQT staff always has the main events of our conventions taped and I definitely want that one because of Debra and because this was the first time I stood up and asked a question during a panel discussion. It was a wonderful opportunity. I can at least say she seemed somewhat interested in what the campaign was doing and, most important of all, she wasn't against becoming Sloan again. I figured if I asked her if she would give up Will & Grace completely to do Prey again as a regular series that that question might not have gone over well in light of the way I actually worded it. All in all, it was a wonderful day for me and one I will never forget. She autographed my photograph as follows: Lee Ann ~ (she asked me specifically how I spelled my name because she wanted to get it right - my name, of course, can be spelled SO many ways I was glad she chose to ask) What a pleasure (with pleasure underlined) to meet you!!! (yes, three exclamation points). Thank you for your support and commitment. Love, Debra Messing and at the very bottom of the photo she wrote "Sloan and Grace" Lee
Ann *Viewers for Quality Television (VQT) Convention Transcript - New Series Panel, featuring Debra Messing: This is not an entire transcript of the panel discussion, merely excerpts of questions poised to Debra and her answers as they applied to Prey. Dorothy Swanson was the President and Founder of Viewers for Quality Television and she led the panel discussion, asking questions of those in attendance then about an hour into the panel, she turned the questions over to the audience. Dorothy Swanson (DS): How do you assemble a cast with chemistry or how do you create it? Debra Messing (DM): You can’t create it. I don’t think it’s something you can create. DS: Debra, you brought up Prey (she spoke earlier in the discussion about being in a drama "last year"), are you aware of the huge campaign (Debra shakes her head vigorously) that went on for that show (at this point I stated ‘is still going on’ and Debra glanced my way and reiterated same) on the internet and among viewers? DM: I was shocked, I mean, certainly I was gratified. DS: It was close to a cult. DM: It was, yes. DS: They were very, very passionate. DM: Incredibly passionate and, I mean, we were an hour drama at 8 o’clock on Thursday night opposite Friends and we thought, okay, don’t even air it because we have no shot. DS: They have asked me to ask you what would you do if they succeeded? (laughs from the audience because of her co-star Eric McCormack saying in a deep big brother voice ‘Don’t go there. You’re committed now. DM: Yes, yes, I am, I mean, I was committed to Prey when I did the pilot for Will & Grace and NBC knew that if Prey was picked up again that I was going back to Prey and they would have to recast Will & Grace and reshoot the pilot and start from scratch and they were willing to take that risk so I took that risk and I was very, very sad when Prey ended because I loved doing that show. DS: That was the main thing to those fans 'was the chemistry' (said in unison by both women) between you DM: and Adam Storke...we aired mid-season, then 3 weeks into it the Olympics came on, we were pre-empted for 3 weeks, we didn’t have a chance so, in my mind, it was never really seen or had a chance, but when the fan mail came in and then this woman who was the president of the save the prey (she was corrected at this point by Dorothy and me, stating ‘Prey for Us’ and she politely stated the correct name) campaign contacted us and had all the ads in all the trade papers, don’t give up ABC, pick it up again and she, the president, just sent me a birthday card and in it she said, 'I know you have another job now but you just know that we are still working on getting that show back.' DS: I think that the point that should be raised is what an example this is how actors in a quality show can inspire viewer power... DM: ...and I think they had courage to do that or the will to do that because it worked for Party of Five. Later in the discussion after about 4 or 5 other VQT members asked questions, I got up and had my chance. LAG: I just want to digress for one second back to something Dorothy had brought up about Prey. I‘m a member of the Prey For Us campaign (at this point Debra gets a big smile on her face, waves at me, and says ‘Oh, Hi! Thank you!). Gina Evers is the President that sent you that card. I have more of a statement than a question. (Debra says ok.) I just wanted you to realize how much we loved that show and the chemistry that you and Adam Storke had together was incredible from the very beginning (Debra said ‘thank you’ several times during my diatribe). Most of us sat in awe watching your pilot, we just could not take our eyes off the screen because you were both SO good and we just wanted to make sure that you knew that. I guess I’m speaking on behalf of them because they couldn’t come. And what Eric said about people meeting from the internet (Eric McCormack had mentioned that during the first taping of the first Will & Grace episode, after their pilot, 10 fans of his from his days on Lonesome Dove came to the taping, meeting for the first time after corresponding on the internet and how amazed he was by that), I have two Prey fans (who were Carol Hallenbeck and Diane Golomb in case anyone was curious) who are coming here this afternoon that I have never met, I have corresponded with them over the internet and they’re coming here specifically because we want to meet because we love your show (Debra at this point was saying how nice or something to that extent). I guess I do have one hypothetical question (at which point Debra said "ok?): if an opportunity would ever come up that you would be able to reprise your role whether it would be for maybe a two-hour movie would that ever be considered like in your summer hiatus? DM: Absolutely, absolutely. I mean I was completely committed to doing Prey and when ABC cancelled it I was very disheartened and I felt like it never really had its fair share, its fair chance, but certainly if they wanted to do a movie or something I would be on board, and thank you. It means a great deal to me that people watched it and were invested in that short period of time.
Lee
Ann |
