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Wil Wheaton playing for EFF

Posted by chrisd on from the okay-enough-posts-already dept.

Quintin Stone (and every other Slashdot reader on the planet) writes: "Wil Wheaton is among the many Star Trek actors on tonight's Weakest Link, except that the charity he's playing for is the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Though so far he's been doing well." CD: I don't want to give away the ending, many people have yet to see the show.

17 of 385 comments (clear)

  1. A Question for Wil by Kozz · · Score: 5, Informative

    I enjoyed watching the show (WL), but I've gotta ask: Was Roxann just putting on an act, or is she truly as much of a colossal bitch as she seemed? My jaw dropped when watching her "exiting interrogation".

    --
    I only post comments when someone on the internet is wrong.
  2. Re:i'll tell you the ending by digitalsushi · · Score: 5, Funny

    an AC telling us Levar won?

    lemme guess... "But you dont have to take MY word for it!" buh bum BUM

    --
    slashdot: where everyone yells sarcastic metaphors to themselves to understand the issue
  3. I quit watching Weakest Link by sessamoid · · Score: 5, Insightful
    The problem with WL is that the brightest out of the bunch almost never wins. By logic, when it gets down to the last 3 or 4, it's in the best interests of the other players to vote out the player who is clearly the strongest. This has happened on almost every single episode I've watched, sometimes quite a bit earlier in the game as well.

    The few exceptions tend to be those episodes that are made up of celebrities from a similar background. They're generally all independently wealthy, so aren't driven by personal gain. In addition, they've all got "personal history" between them which often leads them to vote off other players without regards to what would give them the best chances of winning.

    It's nice to see the EFF getting national publicity though, as I'm a paying member myself.

    In all, though, when I watch game shows (not often) I tend to watch Jeopardy for the reasons stated above.

    --
    "No, no, no. Don't tug on that. You never know what it might be attached to."
    1. Re:I quit watching Weakest Link by John+Harrison · · Score: 5, Informative
      I just watched the episode. In general I agree with you. However, these people were simply trying to see how much money they could put into the pot, and they put A LOT in. $167,500 if I remember correctly. And in the end it came down to the two strongest, which rarely happens.

      BTW, the EFF and all the other charites (except for the winner's) receive $10,000 according to the fine print at the end of the show.

      --
      Lasers Controlled Games!
    2. Re:I quit watching Weakest Link by CleverNickName · · Score: 5, Informative

      And now that you're on this thread, I'd like to ask a few questions about the show, if you don't mind: What is Anne like when the cameras aren't rolling? What's the deal with the $500 amount (You can't bank when it's on $1,000, but $500 is added every so often at the end of a round)? Do you know why no other original series members played?

      When I ran into her backstage (literally. crashed right into her), she was really nice. She was all smiles, warmly shook my hand, and all that. It was really cool. She even made a comment about how she wasn't supposed to be nice to us, and she'd better put on her 'mean' face.

      When Roxann left the stage, there was a close shot of her blowing a kiss and mouthing, "I love you." If that was in your direction (as it seemed to be), then why is she saying you were rude and "coming on to" her? I would have dismissed it as an act if I hadn't seen her poor acting skills on the few Voyager episodes I could stomach and if I hadn't seen Slashdot posts to the effect that you wanted to apologize to her.


      I have no idea what was going on with her. I had forgotten that she voted for me in the first round, and I really did think that she was playing with me. That's why I said that I was voting for her out of spite, because I thought she got the joke...but when we were in commercial breaks, and I tried to make sure that we were cool, she totally wouldn't talk to me, and was kinda cool and snippy towards me. After seeing her comments at the end of the show, I guess she really was pissed at me. Which made me feel really badly, because I never meant any disrespect, or anything like that.

      Someone also mentioned that you were shocked when a producer called you arrogant. If you were acting arrogant for the show--and my wife says you seemed fairly humble on the Diary-L list a while back, so I tend to believe her--then people who are seeing you for the first time (like me) are going to think you're arrogant, even if people who know you know different.


      Yeah. Thing is, I've done hundreds of shows for small, live, comedy club audiences in the past year. I was really playing to that studio audience, who totally got the joke. I should have been playing to the home audience, but I didn't think of that until later. I also think that the producer was saying that to get a rise out of me. They do that, you know. They want to get you riled up, so they can take the most indignant, bitchy, or nasty soundbyte and use it. I was very aware of that, and didn't want to fall into that trap. That may be why Roxann came off so mean towards me. She may have said funny things, and that's the only one they took.*shrug*

      Bottom line is, I got 10K for the EFF, and that makes me happy. I also got to raise awareness for the EFF, and that is way more important to me than some stupid thing between two actors, or how I'm percieved.

  4. Wil Wheaton is cool by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Interesting
    The more I read about the guy, the more I like him. I admit, I didn't like Westley Crusher, and each time I saw Wil appear on TV or say something as himself, I had this dislike of his character come back in my mind. It's sad isn't it, mixing the actor with the character. But now having read what he had to say, and looked at his website, I reckon he's really smart, and I believe he has a real good chance of getting his career out of the "child star" trap : not many child actors can, just look at how many times Mcaulay Culkin has appeared in movies or shows recently ...

    Way to go Wil, you deserve success !

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  5. Wil lost, but EFF is still a winner! by leonbev · · Score: 5, Informative

    According to the disclaimer screen at the end of the show, all of the charities get at least $10,000. So, even though Wil lost, EFF still gets some money. Besides, the free publicity that Wil just gave EFF is probably worth much more than the donation.

    Everyone also got paid union scale to appear on the show, so Wil got a few bucks out of the deal, as well.

  6. They were able to bank $167,500! by Hylian · · Score: 5, Informative

    All of the contestants seemed to pretty much rock at one time or another on the questions... much better than on the average celebrity game show. LeVar Burton mentioned something about $167,500 being some sort of Weakest Link record.

    Just in case anyone was wondering, here are the contestants:

    Wil Wheaton (ST:TNG)
    LeVar Burton (ST:TNG)
    Robert Picardo (ST:VOY)
    Denise Crosby (ST:TNG)
    Roxann Dawson (ST:VOY)
    John DeLancie (ST:TNG,DS9,VOY)
    William Shatner (ST:TOS)
    Armin Shimerman (ST:DS9)

  7. Re:Who did Levar play for? by leonbev · · Score: 5, Informative

    Levar played for an LA chapter Junior Achievement.

  8. Payroll deductions... by AtariDatacenter · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If the EFF worked with corporations to offer payroll deductions like the United Way does, I'd be happy to donate a portion of my salary to the EFF. It really was a pleasant surprise to see Wil ("that's one L!") playing for that charity.

  9. Re:what a waste by 1010011010 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yeah, freedom is not nearly as important as children.

    Not.

    --
    Napster-to-go says "Fill and refill your compatible MP3 player", which is a lie. It's not MP3. It's WMA with DRM.
  10. Damn. by Chris+Johnson · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Wil, you just flat out _rock_.

    Actually this tends to confirm a theory I have- the coolest/healthiest/sanest people out there are those who HAVE to be, because they learned the hard way. I think Wil definitely illustrates this- if you get heavy into being not only a Hollywood teenager, but are also saddled with being Wesley Crusher, you'll get off to a really bad start- and then, unlike most people, you have to _really_ grow up.

    That's my theory, anyway, for explaining how Wil Wheaton turned out to be one of the cooler humans I've ever seen. Keep it up my ex-starfleet friend :)

  11. LeVar beat WW because of RR by Bastian227 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I guess those years of Reading Rainbow really paid off...

  12. I scored the game - here it is by Erbo · · Score: 5, Informative

    THE WEAKEST LINK - STAR TREK EDITION - 11/26/2001

    The Team: 1. Wil Wheaton
    2. LeVar Burton
    3. Robert Picardo
    4. Denise Crosby
    5. Roxann Dawson
    6. John DeLancie
    7. William Shatner
    8. Armin Shimerman

    Round 1: $17,000 banked
    Strongest: Crosby - Weakest: DeLancie
    Votes: Dawson 2 (Wheaton, Shatner), DeLancie 2 (Burton, Crosby), Shatner 2 (Picardo, Shimerman), Wheaton 1 (Dawson), Picardo 1 (DeLancie)
    Crosby elects to remove DeLancie

    Round 2: $13,500 banked (total $30,500)
    Strongest: Picardo - Weakest: Shatner
    Votes: Shatner 3 (Burton, Picardo, Shimerman), Crosby 2 (Wheaton, Shatner), Wheaton 1 (Dawson), Dawson 1 (Crosby)
    Shatner removed

    Round 3: $2,500 banked (total $33,000)
    Strongest: Burton - Weakest: Crosby
    Votes: Dawson 4 (Wheaton, Burton, Picardo, Shimerman), Wheaton 1 (Crosby), Shimerman 1 (Dawson)
    Dawson removed

    Round 4: $14,500 banked (total $47,500)
    Strongest: Picardo - Weakest: Shimerman
    Votes: Crosby 4 (Wheaton, Burton, Picardo, Shimerman), Shimerman 1 (Crosby)
    Crosby removed

    Round 5: $25,000 banked (total $72,500)
    Strongest: Picardo - Weakest: Shimerman
    Votes: Shimerman 3 (Wheaton, Burton, Picardo), Wheaton 1 (Shimerman)
    Shimerman removed

    Round 6: $25,000 banked (total $97,500)
    Strongest: Burton - Weakest: Wheaton
    Votes: Wheaton 2 (Burton, Picardo), Picardo 1 (Wheaton)
    Wheaton removed

    Round 7: $35,000 X2 banked (total $167,500*)
    Strongest: Picardo

    Final: Picardo starts, Burton wins 4-3

    * - According to comments made by Burton, "They say it's a record."

    --
    Be who you are...and be it in style!
  13. Re:Maybe a silly question by arnex · · Score: 5, Funny

    but I'm in Oz so we just get the stupid local version...

    Hmmm... strange. That's what we get in the U.S. too.

  14. Re:what a waste by PD · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Your comments reflect a common sentiment, but it's not logical to take that position. Here's why:

    1) First statement (yours) summed up neatly: why play for charity A when charity B appears to address a more pressing need. That is where you stopped thinking about it and reached a conclusion.

    2) The conclusion was premature: one can go further - why play for charity B when charity C is addressing an even more pressing need. But that's not the end of it either.

    3) The set of all charities is finite, meaning that if you continually favor the charity that address the more important need, then eventually you will find THE charity that addresses the MOST important need. That is where you stop. Give them your money.

    4) Unfortunately, that situation leads to starvation. If you accept the first idea as true, (the one that you offered) then only one charity can logically be funded. Obviously, this is a far worse situation than we intended,

    5) Therefore, we must reject the original premise as leading to an undesirable outcome, and therefore flawed for purposes of efficiently distributing money to charity.

    The insult "get a life" is similarly flawed. At the end of the chain of thinking, one must live as the finest human being ever, and to be any lesser earns the "get a life" smackdown. One could offer my argument that I gave above as a logical retort. Or, one could simply offer a middle finger and a "hearty colloquialism".

    --
    If tits were wings it'd be flying around.
  15. Wil's comments about the show... by Lyrrad · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Can be found in the Google Chat here:

    Here are his comments copied:

    Aw, Crap

    I did this interview with Entertainment Weekly Online, to support the Star Trek Weakest Link...I know, it was risky, considering how brilliantly objective and reasoned their last story about me was...but I was assured by NBC, and by the guy who did the interview, that it was a different medium (Website vs. Print) and it would be okay....

    So here's the article...which is fine, except for "Crusher Crushed"...c'mon, how many times have we heard that?

    Anyway, here's the deal: I'm really scared about how this is going to come off. I'm not allowed to talk about the outcome of the show, so I'll walk a very slim line here, while I try to explain some stuff.

    I made a choice, when I went to play the show. I decided that I'd really play with Anne Robinson, and really go head to head with her, and never back down. Even though that's not really my style, I thought it would be fun, and it was...but I'm really nervous, because, at the end of the show, one of the producers came up to me and said, "You're really arrogant, aren't you?"

    I was stunned. Ask anyone...I'm lots of things, but I'm not arrogant. But I played it snotty with her, because I was playing with her at her own game, you know? So I begged them to please be thoughtful when they edit the show, because if they make me out to be a huge dick, it could REALLY hurt my career. All of a sudden, the guy who you used to love from TV and Movies has grown up, and he's grown up to be a huge dick.

    Perfect. Can I take your order? How about a nice Iced Tea to start, sir?

    But here's the thing that I'm really, really upset about: Roxann Dawson, who I don't know at all, was, apparently very offended by something I said on the show. Here's the quote from EW:

    However, Roxann Dawson (''Voyager'' sex symbol B'Elanna Torres) appears less amused when the married Wheaton jokes that he's in love with her. ''Coming on to me on national television -- when he knows my husband's gonna watch the show -- is just unfair, and frankly rude,'' Dawson says to the camera. (We don't think she's joking)


    So, I feel just terrible. I don't know her, at all, and she seemed very nice to me, and I am really upset that she felt like I was rude to her, and that I was coming on to her, because nothing could be further from the truth.

    I doubt it, but if Roxanne reads this, I want her to know that I meant absolutely no disrespect, at all. I am truly, truly sorry for that.

    I just feel awful, and I've put in calls to my Star Trek friends, so I can phone her myself, and apologize to her.

    *sigh*