gateking2000
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2001
- Messages
- 49
Hi,
BOBW 15 had the pleasure of having Robert Leeshock (Major Liam Kincaid - EARTH FINAL CONFLICT) as a convention guest, April 19th-21st 2002, in Sydney, Australia. Not only did he make a lot of new fans, from a convention crowd predominantly BUFFY fans (for the main guest Nicholas Brendon), but he has also had the affect of inspiring people to now go and watch EFC.
EFC is one of my personal favourite TV shows, and with only being mildly interested in BTVS, my interest for the convention was therefore going to be directed solely to Robert's stage talks, although Gigi Edgley (Chiana from FARSCAPE) wasn't far behind. What many people don't realize is that EFC is only one of a handful of sci-fi genre TV shows that has survived past one or two seasons, and now is in its fifth & final season. I remember back to when I saw the first episode of EFC, and was so amazed at the look & movements of the Taelons because I'd never seen anything like that on TV before.
Robert is the type of convention guest that everyone is going to like straight away. Whether you knew about EFC or not didn't matter, because Robert was there to present himself, to entertain and to have fun, and maybe having a low profile to the audience to begin with, may have made him even more motivated to talk about the show, his life and whatever else. This is really what conventions are all about, having entertaining guests and for the attendees to feel that they have come away with a special & unique experience, and judging by some postings on the message board for Robert's official fan club website (www.robertleeshock.com), from attendees to both his New Zealand and Australian appearances, there certainly were some special & unique memories.
For the EFC fans in the audience it was a special treat to see him in person on stage, to hear his thoughts on the three years of his life he spent on the show. His favourite EFC episodes included 'Once and Future Worlds' (discovery of Ma'el's ship, early season three) as well as a season four episode where his character was shown with weaknesses (title ?). An interesting point he made concerned how his character was made the leader of the resistance to which he thought, but what had the character done to get to this level !. In all, he described 'Major Liam Kincaid' as representing 'free will', an idea which was directly opposite to the Taelon concept of the group consciousness.
In what seems like an ongoing tradition at BOBW conventions, Robert was forced to try 'vegemite' (a yeast extract used as a spread on toast) and 'tim tams', chocolate covered biscuits. The vegemite elicited a not-too-good response (and deservingly so, it smeels, tastes & looks disgusting) however the tim tams must have been a more pleasant experience, as I think he liked them.
Whether it was at any of the night party events, or during the weekend program, Robert always gave his time to speak to attendees, pose for photos and be happy to be there. Some convention guests might treat this like a job, do what's required, do the minimum and not give anything of themselves in their interactions with attendees, but Robert, the down-to-earth regular guy that he comes across as, set a new standard for BOBW convention guests.
In Australia EFC has only screened upto the end of season three, and due to being on a cable channel, the show's profile is not as high as it deserves. The audience however still has another year of EFC episodes with Robert in them to look forward to, and then there's the final episode of the series, where Robert makes a welcome return appearance !
Regards,
Arthur
BOBW 15 had the pleasure of having Robert Leeshock (Major Liam Kincaid - EARTH FINAL CONFLICT) as a convention guest, April 19th-21st 2002, in Sydney, Australia. Not only did he make a lot of new fans, from a convention crowd predominantly BUFFY fans (for the main guest Nicholas Brendon), but he has also had the affect of inspiring people to now go and watch EFC.
EFC is one of my personal favourite TV shows, and with only being mildly interested in BTVS, my interest for the convention was therefore going to be directed solely to Robert's stage talks, although Gigi Edgley (Chiana from FARSCAPE) wasn't far behind. What many people don't realize is that EFC is only one of a handful of sci-fi genre TV shows that has survived past one or two seasons, and now is in its fifth & final season. I remember back to when I saw the first episode of EFC, and was so amazed at the look & movements of the Taelons because I'd never seen anything like that on TV before.
Robert is the type of convention guest that everyone is going to like straight away. Whether you knew about EFC or not didn't matter, because Robert was there to present himself, to entertain and to have fun, and maybe having a low profile to the audience to begin with, may have made him even more motivated to talk about the show, his life and whatever else. This is really what conventions are all about, having entertaining guests and for the attendees to feel that they have come away with a special & unique experience, and judging by some postings on the message board for Robert's official fan club website (www.robertleeshock.com), from attendees to both his New Zealand and Australian appearances, there certainly were some special & unique memories.
For the EFC fans in the audience it was a special treat to see him in person on stage, to hear his thoughts on the three years of his life he spent on the show. His favourite EFC episodes included 'Once and Future Worlds' (discovery of Ma'el's ship, early season three) as well as a season four episode where his character was shown with weaknesses (title ?). An interesting point he made concerned how his character was made the leader of the resistance to which he thought, but what had the character done to get to this level !. In all, he described 'Major Liam Kincaid' as representing 'free will', an idea which was directly opposite to the Taelon concept of the group consciousness.
In what seems like an ongoing tradition at BOBW conventions, Robert was forced to try 'vegemite' (a yeast extract used as a spread on toast) and 'tim tams', chocolate covered biscuits. The vegemite elicited a not-too-good response (and deservingly so, it smeels, tastes & looks disgusting) however the tim tams must have been a more pleasant experience, as I think he liked them.
Whether it was at any of the night party events, or during the weekend program, Robert always gave his time to speak to attendees, pose for photos and be happy to be there. Some convention guests might treat this like a job, do what's required, do the minimum and not give anything of themselves in their interactions with attendees, but Robert, the down-to-earth regular guy that he comes across as, set a new standard for BOBW convention guests.
In Australia EFC has only screened upto the end of season three, and due to being on a cable channel, the show's profile is not as high as it deserves. The audience however still has another year of EFC episodes with Robert in them to look forward to, and then there's the final episode of the series, where Robert makes a welcome return appearance !
Regards,
Arthur
