Wray Nerely (Alan Tudyk) is stuck in a groundhog day of sci-fi fandom. The pilot of a spaceship on the cancelled show Spectrum, he now travels the Comic-Con circuit signing autographs and taking pictures with adoring obsessive fans. It’s a sensation that Tudyk and his costar, Nathan Fillion, know intimately as the stars of the cancelled hit series, Firefly, proving that the truth is stranger than fiction.
In the first episode, Nerely is flying into a Con but he’s stuck in coach. He gets some hilarious advice from Sean Astin (playing himself) that completely backfires, but I won’t spoil that here. The opening segment in a bathroom stall shows the length that fans will go to get autographs from their favorite athletes and movie stars, and would’ve been worth it in its own right.
In the second episode, Nerely gets stuck with an administrative assistant for the Con who has some personal issues, encounters someone from his flight, and dukes it out with his Con booking agent. Tudyk is hilarious, and anyone who understands the nature of the Con will find this spot-on and insightful.
Each episode of the thirteen episode web series on Vimeo is ten minutes long, allowing Tudyk and Fillion to set up short bursts of funny sets. I found myself laughing out loud, and considering what it must be like to live in the bubble. Sure, there’s fame and fortune, but there’s also fame and … getting by. While the upside might be the opportunity and a stroke of the ego, it seems that we’re often clueless to the way that people like Tudyk have their privacy and peace of mind ripped away. Thankfully, he’s secure enough to at least spoof it up.
Just don’t think that we can learn about our own obsessions, too.
The show is available today on Vimeo On Demand.
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