Entering the Worlds of Warehouse 13 and Eureka at Comic Con

The double punch of Warehouse 13 and Eureka panels capped off an exciting day at Comic Con at the end of July. First up were the cast and Executive Producer of the number 1 show on Syfy: Warehouse 13. Moderator for this panel was Neil Grayston, otherwise known as Fargo on the equally popular Syfy series Eureka, who introduced the Warehouse 13 panelist to the stage in the jam-packed convention room. Among the panelist were Jack Kenny, the Executive Producer of the show as well as cast members Saul Rubinek (who plays Artie), Joanne Kelly (who plays Myka), CCH Pounder (who plays the mysterious Mrs. Frederick), Allison Scagliotti (who plays Claudia) and Eddie McClintock (who plays Pete). Much to the surprise of the crowd, Eddie actually ran a circuit around the room upon his introduction, slapping high-fives with fans all across the room before reaching the stage.

Mrs. Frederick, Artie, Myka & Pete

Before the panel got down to the nuts and bolts of the show, an extended preview was shown to the expectant crowd; one that did not disappoint the fans at all. Included in that preview were a number of lovely ladies – including actresses Tia Carrere, Paula Garces and Jaime Murray – whom Pete would potentially become involved with, causing Neil to joke with Eddie about the intimate scenes his character will have with these ladies. Eddie replied matter-of-factly that “Pete likes chicks.” And, of course, Joanne had to jump in to help with the good-natured ribbing, noting that “Myka could care less.”

Various discussions were held on the relationships that are forming among the characters such as how Artie has become a pseudo- and much-reluctant father figure to Claudia while Myka and Pete have become more of brother and sister. There was also some focus put on Artie’s professional relationship with Mrs. Frederick, about which Jack Kenny stated that “more interesting facts will come out Mrs. Frederick in future episodes.”

Jack then went on to not only introduced many of the show’s writers, who were scattered throughout the audience, but also gave some slight spoilers on what to expect in upcoming episodes, such as seeing other warehouses around the globe (including one in Egypt) and learning about the history of the all the warehouses (which not so ironically can be learned about at the Syfy website).

Claudia gets a boyfriend this season

The focus was then placed on Allison when she remarked that she requested certain ‘things’ for her character Claudia for the new season, which she was happy to report she was able to ‘get’. Those ‘things’ included doing a crossover with Eureka, Claudia getting a boyfriend, and brandishing her own Tesla.

Following up the introduction of the writers who were in the audience, all the cast remarked how the writers are very much involved in all aspects of the show, not just in the writing of the scripts. Saul reported that “the head writer is on set 75 percent of the time,” which is a great help to the cast in bringing out their best in each episode. Jack added that it’s like watching a “badminton game” because the actors “do their parts (so) well together.”

A comparison was then held about how much the actors are (or in some instances) are not like their characters to which Saul cheerfully stated he is very different from Artie as he “has been married for 20 years and has two children” whereas Artie is a bachelor and his live is the Warehouse. Allison joked that her dynamic with Paul off-screen is much like that of Artie and Claudia on-screen.

Saul then added that “every episode we do is different from week to week and going to work is a total joy”; which, of course, garnered a rousing round of applause from the audience as well as the panelists. In response, Jack stated that “if you look around you, this is the reason the show is a success, (because of) all of you.”

Before the panel came to a close an audience member asked if there was one artifact that they would like to actually take home with them what would it be. Saul said it would be the compass that was used in the scenes with Claudia’s brother while Allison would want Hendrix’s guitar. Another similar question was what artifact would any of the cast steal with Allison stating it would be Edgar Allen Poe’s pen and Eddie saying it would Janis Joplin’s backstage pass from Woodstock.

Claudia travels to Eureka

With that the panel came to a close and mere moments later, Allison Scagliotti returned to the stage – this time as the moderator for the Eureka panel, introducing cast members James Callis (who plays Dr. Grant), Neil Grayston (who plays Fargo), Salli Richardson-Whitfield (who plays Allison) and Colin Ferguson (who plays Jack) to the stage along with Executive Producer Bruce Miller and Series Creator Jaime Paglia.

An extended trailer for the upcoming season of Eureka was also shown with some interesting spoilers revealed, much to the delight and surprise of the audience members.

As to be expected, much discussion was held on the game charger for the show: the time travel of Jack, Allison, Fargo, Henry and Jo to 1947 and upon their return “home” they discover that world isn’t exactly the home they left. Colin, of course, good-naturedly joked that it “feels good” to have Jack’s world turned upside down while Salli stated that this is her “favorite, favorite year” by far. Neil stated that as Fargo he “loves giving Larry his comeuppance” but that there will be a lot of Doomsday scenarios (as is to be expected).

Of course, there was more talk between Allison (the moderator) and Neil about their crossover episodes and how much fun they all had (the cast members on Eureka and Warehouse 13) with those episodes.

Jack and Dr. Grant go camping...

James was asked about coming to Eureka after his run on Battlestar Galactica to which he admitted he wasn’t looking to return to the genre, but “when you’re presented with an incredible role, (one that is) so bold and really executed brilliantly”, he desperately wanted to be part of it.

At this point, the writers were pointed out in the audience by not only Allison (the moderator) but also by creator Jaime who stated how “unbelievably lucky (Eureka) is to have the writers we have” and then he went on to mention all of them by name.

Talk then turned to the actors getting to direct episodes again, including Colin and Joe Morton as well as Salli directing her first episode of the show. It was also mentioned that Wil Wheaton was to guest star in an episode (which has already aired) and then actress Felicia Day (from The Guild and Buffy fame) was brought onto the stage and it was revealed she would be doing a multi-episode arc on the show.

After a rousing Q&A with the audience, the panel was sadly brought to an end with another run of the extended trailer that was shown at the start of the panel.

Warehouse 13 airs on Syfy on Tuesdays at 9 PM while Eureka airs on Fridays at 8 PM.