Also I think people who are as good at walking the line in playing to fandom without giving more of the themselves as they want is damn rare. Is there anyone who can play that game as well as Misha other than Misha? Probably one reason he is good at it is because he enjoys it. But probably one reason he enjoys it is that he is so damn good at it. One meta reason why there is a really good chance Castiel will be back. But the meta reason it is not certain is that Misha is unpredictable enough that it is not impossible he would decide to give up the show to spend more time with his wife and new son.

No c in Misha Collins' first name, TB.

Corrected. Thanks.

So Colin told me he'd be out with Misha next week, and I exploded at him, and he said he'd tell me when and where so I could come.

But I can't. Really totally absolutely can't.

How is that fair?

I agree with you, Matt, about The Bronze. The Buffy cast and crew were way more accessible than the SPN are now. You could pretty easily talk to Nick Brendon for free during the show's run. Good luck trying to officially chat with Jensen without doling out money. And that's just a fandom I'm familiar with. I'm sure there are more examples outside of my wheelhouse. I think what's exceptional about SPN is the amount of money cast can make in proportion to how much the show pulls in, but that just means it's more expensive for the fans to get access. Their presence is a monitored commodity. Twitter just makes you think you're close. It's an illusion of proximity.

the amount of money cast can make in proportion to how much the show pulls in

Oh I agree. And not just for the leads, but for actors who may not be working regularly. I don't think for a second that access to the leads is easy or cheap. But actors (Speight, Roche, Cohen, etc.) who don't have much of a presence in the business suddenly have name and face recognition because they appeared in three or four episodes of a show on a minor network. Palladino, Lindburg, Lehne, those guys have been working years, and I'm sure have some reputation with casting agents. But I do think that's increased because of audience familiarity and following their other work. Plus, as you said, con paychecks.

Star Trek is a great model, even to not getting respect while it ran. Not having had the Bronze experience, my knowledge of actor and crew accessibility is scant, so I'm glad to know--or be reminded--about that.

Yeah, not saying SPN is #1 in accessibility. But how about in skill at fan manipulation by a show with a comparatively small fan base?

But how about in skill at fan manipulation by a show with a comparatively small fan base?

I still think Buffy wins. I mean, we had Joss and Tim posting here. Way to go to work a crowd. They had the Bronze as official, and I think Tim posted at TWOP as well, and who knows where else.

And Joss is a master (no pun intended) at whipping fans into a frenzy, although his shows didn't really have numbers to compete with the big boys, they did manage to get a lot of undying devotion following from project to project.

I don't know if appearing on Supernatural ever made anyone more castable. It's a remarkably low profile show and we fans don't count for much in terms of desirable demographics. Ads on it are the cheapest on the CW, although its ratings are decent for that network. But I don't think that appearing on it gets you more eyes, and even if it does, they're not the sort of eyes that fill movie theatre seats or activate Nielsen boxes. The two leads are barely B list movie actors. They barely have any recognition outside people who watch the show, as opposed to word of mouth or paparazzi draw.

Which is all a damned shame, and I'm glad cons pay so much, because I don't think appearing on the show pads their bank accounts much any other way. Misha was on the show for how long, and now he's on Ringer? Yikes.

Misha has posted an update. The first individual winner has been named (none of us, I don't think). But there will be a second individual winner named at some point.

He said the team will be announced on Christmas.

I am the Keymaster for our team, and received no extra competition email, so I think we are out of the running.

C'est la...

I hope your team wins, sumi!

Erin, me too and us neither.

Sumi, ditto.

Brought to you from the land of no original thoughts.