Tag: Sonny with a Chance

Disney Channel Stars at the 2011 D23 Expo

There’s no denying that my favorite part of the 2009 D23 Expo was getting to see and meet more than a few of my favorite Disney Channel Girls, like Tiffany Thornton, Chelsea Staub, and Debby Ryan.

The 2011 D23 Expo was no different, starting with a repeat appearance from Tiffany Thornton plus Allisyn Ashley Arm, Sterling Knight, Doug Brochou, Shayne Topp, Matthew Scott Montgomery, and Damien Haas.

Doesn’t Tiff look pretty? (As always. xD )

Missing where Brandon Smith and Audrey Whitby. I really wanted to meet her. Oh well. I was able to finish my existing Sonny with a Chance autograph though – I just needed Sterling and Doug. =]

I also got my So Random Main cast autographs…

… and another of the “new” Randoms. 😀

I had also wanted to see the Lemonade Mouth cast, Hayley Kiyoko in particular, but they cut the line before I got there. Damn.

Saturday was a big day for DC events! I got there early to see Alyson Stoner, whom you all know I adore.

She was there for the Phineas and Ferb meet and greet along with the voice of Phineas and Perry.

It took me four years to get her autograph, but I finally did it. 😀 BTW, she has an EP coming out soon on iTunes. She’s not sure if there will be physical CDs or not.

Next up was a signing for Kickin’ It. I didn’t go, but I did get to see Olivia Holt. And I have to say, she is mighty cute. =]

Next was Fish Hooks. Chelsea Kane didn’t show up. >:[

I still got to meet Kyle and the crew, but still, I wanted to hit on see my Chelsea. 🙁

Finally was the cast of A.N.T. Farm. I finally got to tell Stefanie Scott how awesome I think she is. <3

And it was fun to talk to Sierra McCormic. She’s a sweet little girl, emphasis on the little. I’ll have to look her up when she’s older.

Sorry for the delay in getting this post up. I know I said Monday, but I’ve been having computer problems and couldn’t get anything new posted.

Sunday, the third and final day of the 2011 D23 Expo was just as amazing as the first two days. How many people can say they’ve seen Wilmer Valderrama hangin’ out with Handy Manny? LOL

After that photo op, we got in line for the Pair of Kings signing.

I was there to see Kelsey Chow again (obviously). I had gotten her autograph at the filming, but it’s faint ’cause her pin was dying. So when I saw her I was like “I hope your pen works this time” and she was like “Huh- OH! I remember you! =D” And then the Disney employee pushed me along for holding up the line. Of course, SHE was talking TO ME so how was that my fault? LOL

I was also quite shocked to see that Mitchel Musso himself showed up! He wasn’t scheduled to attend and I had never met him before.

And have a look at this guy with the “I <3 Kelsey Chow” shirt! Lucky bastard… why didn’t I think of that? LOL I actually ended up right next to him in the “Shake it Up” line. He’s a nice kid.

Speaking of the Shake it Up line, what a mess. They didn’t know where to put everyone and it was a pretty big mess overall. The line was closed by 2pm… if not sooner.

Now as frequent readers will remember, I’ve met Bella and Zendaya before. It was Caroline Sunshine that I really wanted to meet.

And yeah, meet her I did. 🙂 I even had a few moments to tell her about my fansite and how excited I was to finally meet her.

I didn’t really have anything to say to Zendaya… but I did get a solo autograph of her. =]

As for Bella, I didn’t have anything rehearsed so I simply told her that I couldn’t even begin to tell her how amazing she is.

She was like “Aww, thank you sir” … as if I needed to be reminded how she’s WAY too young for me. LOL. Here’s the autograph.

But that’s not all. Once we finished with the cast we went down in front of the stage to take a few more pics. I got some great shots of Bella and Zendaya.

And by absolute sure luck, I ended up standing against the side of the stage when they finished the signing and the cast came to the front to sign a few more autographs for the crowd! Bella was right in front of me, look!

My friend Anika who was right next to me even got a pic with Zendaya!

I was hoping Caroline would come over to our side, but she didn’t make it beyond mid stage before the CMs escorted her off the stage.

She was the last to leave, but we still had one more surprise in store before we left. About 30 minutes after the event wrapped up, I spotted Roshan Fegan and Anika got a great picture with him too.

And that my friends, was the last day of the 2011 D23 expo. It was something else, I’ll tell you that. Hope to see you all there in 2013. 🙂

August 30, 2011
Sonny with a Chance Episode Filming! 😀

For those of you unfamiliar with how an episode filming works, I recommend you stop and read about my first filming for Good Luck charlie before you continue.

For whatever reason, SWAC starts filming later in the day than the other DC shows. The scheduled time is 5:30, but it was more like 6 before we where seated inside. Our “warm up guy” was Ezra Weisz, who has to be the best in the business. I saw him before at my Wizards filming. Ezra’s job is basically to keep us entertained between takes, and one of the first games he did was he asked people what they wrote on their facebook status before they came to the show. I saw this as a great opportunity to get to talk to him, and the group as a whole – so I raised my hand – “I’ve got a good one!” He seemed skeptical of that, but let me continue to say that I was going to write that I was excited to see him again. He commented and let me continue to say that everyone should check out the behind the scenes videos on his youtube. At which point he knew that I really was a fan of him and not just trying to butter him up. And then I mentioned the fansite: “That’s sonny with a chance dot com, with dashes between the words” before sitting back down.

This was episode 222 “Sonny with a Choice” directed by Eric Dean Seaton. Eric has worked on many SWAC and GLC episodes, and I was excited to finally get to see him in action! It’s also worth noting that this episode is not listed on Eric’s website. I don’t know if this was a last minute substitution for him, or if they just haven’t updated the site yet, but I thought it was worth mentioning. Also, since this was episode #22, and two weeks ago Tiffany Thornton told me there where four left to film this season, that would bring the total number of episodes this season to 25, not 30 as some believed.

Now, I don’t want to give away much on the plot. This is a major episode for the overall season two storyline and it wouldn’t be fair to you all to spoil how it ends. In this episode, So Random and MacKenzie Falls are both nominated for the Tween Choice award for best Tween show, which causes some (additional) friction between the two casts. Frequent readers already know that Chad & Sonny start dating in “Falling for the Falls.” The episode stills and Disney commercials already give that much away. But surprisingly, when the subject of Sonny and chad dating was first mentioned, there was a collective gasp from the audience. I guess they aren’t as well informed as we are. Anyway, there was some serious Channy in this episode.

“Chad is a totally changed person since we started dating” – Sonny.

There was hand holding, Chad had his arm around her a couple times, both their casts knew, they walked the red carpet at an event together, and there was even a quick kiss. Definitely a Channy episode. There where a few “Awww” moments (one of which was cut, unfortunately) and there was one very powerful scene that I really must not discuss further. Let me just say this, I know I’ve been somewhat critical of Demi’s acting skills in the past, but she blew me away last night. To film those intense relationship scenes right after her breakup with Joe? Amazing doesn’t even come close.

At the end of our episode, they filmed a pick up scene for the Christmas special. That episode is a sort of behind the scenes of So Random, with Chad guest hosting SNL style.

Following the last scene, the cast did the curtain call and signed autographs. By this point, it was almost 11PM and the crew was eager to put everything away and clear us all out of there. Sterling had to leave early to catch a flight so I didn’t get a chance to speak with him again. I got Brandon’s autograph but didn’t get a word in as he was talking to the person next to me as he signed my picture. I got maybe five seconds with Demi as she commented on “how white” she was in the picture and I laughed and thanked her. I wanted to get a picture with her, but couldn’t from where I was. Tiff was next, she saw me as was like “Hey, Greg! :D” And I was like “Yeah, I made it! :D” She signed my picture quickly and then had to move on to the next person. Finally, I managed to get over to where Allisyn was to get her autograph. She signed it quickly and I thanked her as they they where pushing us out. I snapped a few pictures of the set, but just like at wizards most of them came out blurry.

And I did win a trivia prize as well. The question was to name a member of MacKenzie falls, other than MacKenzie. A couple people guessed random names, so I stuck my hand up: “Portlyn! Season one, replaced by Chloe in season two.” Needless to say, people where impressed. Ezra took a moment then to mention that I had a fansite to one of the showrunners. I think it was creator Steve Marmel, but I’m not sure.

Overall, it was a fantastic experience, and I’m very glad that I was able to go before the end of the season.

If you have questions about the filming, please visit this thread on the SWAC forum to ask, and read what others have asked. Thanks!

June 5, 2010
Tiffany Thornton, Sterling Knight, and All Star Weekend Benefit Show

Today Tiffany & All Star weekend did a benefit show for Falling Whistles, a campaign for peace in the Congo.

Tiffany preformed two original songs that she’s never sung for an audience before!

“Sure Feels Like Love”

“Texas Girl”

She did an amazing job. <3

I was the only guy there, not counting the dads or crew! But the event wasn’t very well publiced, so there where only about a hundred people total.

I met Tiffany before at the D23 Expo, but this time I was actually able to get a posed photo! 🙂

And amazingly, not only did she remember me, she remembered both my name and my websites! Among other things, I asked her how many SWAC episodes are left to film (four) and congratulated her on her engagement.

Her SWAC co-star Sterling Knight was there too! I got a pic with him and asked him a question on behalf of the girls of the SWAC forum.

Maybe I have a future as a talk show host. LOL

Finally, All Star Weekend preformed – minus lead singer Zach (Or is it Zac? Zack? I dunno)

(More All Star Weekend vids on my YouTube)

All in all, not a bad day!

I’ll be posting a few more pics of Tiff in a couple days. I still gotta sort out all my stuff from the show! 🙂

May 22, 2010
SWAC @ Disneyland!

On Sunday, I was in Anaheim to see Emily Osment at the House of Blues.

And after she wrapped up her show at 9, I ran over to Disney’s California Adventure and Disneyland for a few hours before they closed.

I actually ended up getting stuck on the Indiana Jones ride, but that’s another story.

Anyway, as I passed the ticket booths, I looked at the movie posters they had up, as I always do. But this time, I saw a Sonny with a Chance poster!

I know we’ve seen that graphic before, but I still think it was really cool that they’re actually promoting the show at the park. I can’t recall them ever doing that for any DC series.

April 29, 2010
D23 Expo Recap (Part 3)

On day three of the Expo, I was able to meet my two favorite Disney blonds, Tiffany Thornton and Chelsea Staub!

I don’t know how I was able to breathe, let alone talk, while in Tiffany’s presence. She is just one of the most amazing people, well, ever. I was able to tell her about TiffanyThornton.us and Sonny-with-a-Chance.com!

I can’t remember meeting Chelsea very well, as I was still stunned from meeting Tiffany only moments earlier. But I know I was able to tell her about ChelseaStaub.ws and that I loved her in Minute Men.

Prior to the signing, Chelsea and Tiffany had an audience Q&A session at the Radio disney booth. The full Q&A was some 40 minutes, and I was able to sneak a little bit of video for you all. 🙂

This first one is about what to expect on SWAC and JONAS.

This one was what happened when a really little girl asked about promice rings – and why neither Tiffany or Chelsea have one.

And this last one is about how each got her start in Hollywood. Watch for when Tiffany exclaims “What the Heck!?” 🙂

You’ll find a lot more pictures from Saturday in the DC Fans gallery and be sure to visit my youtube for more videos.

September 19, 2009