I took my eight-year-old niece, an iCarly fan, to an autograph signing by Miranda Cosgrove (who plays the lead character) at the Bridgewater Commons Mall in New Jersey. The experience was about as bad as any fan of the show could experience.The signing was from 12:00 P.M. to 2:30 P.M. I got there with her at 10:30 A.M., and they had already cut the line off and didn't allow anybody else to get on. People had apparently slept in their cars in the parking lot the night before to get in line early.
They had estimated Cosgrove could give 700 signatures. At a glance, I would say 5 to 10 times that number had attended the event. I even know a person who made it on the line and due to its lack of forward movement abandoned all hope around 1:30 P.M. Needless to say, my niece was among the many to walk away empty-handed.
I could go into a long rant about the cult of celebrity, but I won't. Had the organizers planned for this better, they could have at least given (or even sold) pre-signed photos to everybody attending so nobody would walk away disappointed, as so many did.
I ask of you: have you ever attended any sort of television celebrity signing? If so, did you experience anything like this? If you were at this event, did you manage to get a signature? Please share.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-14-2009 @ 10:43AM
Edward said...
When the first Power Rangers came out eons ago, I went to a autograph signing at the Arsenal Mall in Watertown, MA. The crowd was huge and we stood in line for about an hour before getting our autographs. Luckily we weren't at the end of the line (or one of those that came late). I am sure this happens at every event. I doubt they will keep the stars there until no one shows up. I guess at the time, the Power Rangers had multiple signings in the Boston area malls, so the crowd at each location weren't that bad.
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9-14-2009 @ 10:52AM
Willmore2000 said...
So your solution is for Miranda Cosgrove to forgo her acting career and spend 5-8 hours a day signing photos of herself for the hundreds or even thousands of people that attend her signing events but fail to get an autograph?
Note where you said "People had apparently slept in their cars in the parking lot the night before to get in line early."
How did THEY know that there would be a limited supply of signatures and getting there as early as possible would be advisable?
Do you roll up to the ticket booth at 10:30 before a 12:00 rolling stones concert and expect tickets to be available?
It sucks, but you can't transfer your niece's blame of you onto the organizers. Just go online, fork over 50$, or however much it costs and buy her that signed photo.
God knows why people would want a signature of a demi-celebrity ... scratch that, god knows why anyone would want anyone's signature, but if you want one, plan ahead and don't assume that you are entitled to special treatment.
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9-14-2009 @ 12:33PM
Robert said...
Well said. Some people just think they deserve special treatment.
9-14-2009 @ 12:46PM
Susan said...
"God knows why people would want a signature of a demi-celebrity ... scratch that, god knows why anyone would want anyone's signature, but if you want one, plan ahead and don't assume that you are entitled to special treatment."
Thank you...lol I have always been baffled by this whole autograph idea. If you want a photo of your fav celeb, ok that makes sense. If you enjoy your fav celeb in whatever form of talent they have (i.e. acting, sports, musical, etc) that is very understandable. But to wait hours for someone to sign their name (noted, takes about 2 seconds to do) on something, I don’t get it (esp. when u can just buy one of the millions offered off eBay). I enjoy people’s talent and I am a fan of many people, but I have never been obsessed over a single individual (or group).
My response to people going gaga over a signed item? "I can sign my name on things too...does that make me special?" Like I said, I very much respect people with great talent and I respect being a fan of that. But I am not going to waste hours waiting around to meet someone (who will never remember me, who I "might" get to take a picture w/, and who will spend less than a minute w/me before moving to the next fan). I’m not casting down the celebs that do this. Filing through fan after fan is all they can really do w/out pissing off the fans who didn’t get their attention (as seen in this article). If I’m going to put that much effort into meeting someone I’m that "obsessed" with, I’d much rather win like a dinner or small 5 group back stage gathering via auction or something. That way, you truly get to meet the person, instead of being shuttled through fan after fan like cattle.
9-14-2009 @ 2:51PM
Elf said...
"God knows why people would want a signature of a demi-celebrity ... scratch that, god knows why anyone would want anyone's signature..."
Willmore, try pulling your head out of your posterior for a moment please. Just because you don't care about the celebrity status of some teenage actress doesn't mean that nobody else does.
Brad said he took his 8 year-old niece. Do you think his niece would give a crap about meeting anyone who you would consider a celebrity? Brad tried to do something nice for his little niece, which makes him sound like a pretty nice uncle in my book. Eight-year olds aren't concerned with getting a signed celebrity photo so they can turn around and sell it on E-bay tomorrow, or at least I hope most of them aren't.
I understand getting and keeping an autograph from a celebrity whom you meet in person as a rememberance of the meeting. And what constitues a celebrity will vary from person to person. Plus some celebrities actually do enjoy going out and interacting with fans as long as it's not overwhelming.
So Brad, you've learned something and I hope your niece got over it without too much drama.
9-15-2009 @ 3:30PM
Sierra said...
Well said Willmore. To answer the Brad Trechak: I too was at the event and we stood in line since 5:15 a.m. because we knew that it would be packed there and there would be a line out the door. We got in and met Miranda Cosgrove, got her autograph and took pictures with her. She was a very sweet girl and very excited to meet her fans. My kids and their cousins were excited and she was so polit to them. It was worth the wait in line. You should have planned your approach better. The mall opened at 11:00 what made you think that showing up there 1/2 hour before there would be a small line. We are talking about a celebrity. There were a lot of people just like you that showed up around the same time if not later and cried NO FARE!!! People tried to cut the line and had no regard for the people that woke their kids up early and waited patiently in line all morning. All they could say was...but my kids really wanted to just meet her real quick, they are her biggest fan. Well obviously not since you didn't get there early to secure a spot. SO SHAME ON YOU!!!
9-14-2009 @ 11:18AM
Butters said...
It was a little naive on your part to expect to get there at 10:30 and still be in a good position to get an autograph.
It is not uncommon for autograph signings to have a limited amount of time or signatures given out. Remember that the celebrity is there to promote themselves or their product (in this case a TV show) but they are also providing foot traffic for the mall or store that they were in when doing the signing. They would have a contract with the mall or store that limits the time or number of signatures that they have to be their for, otherwise they could be their all day and night signing away madly.
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9-14-2009 @ 1:28PM
Dan said...
Brad - I would no longer ask meaningful questions, nor give personal insight at all away in this medium. There are cranky pants lurking these boards, waiting to jab you in the nuts with their sharp wit and wasted opinions. Paid professionals sitting quietly at their desks, bashing you while getting paid to do something else. It's become a very large problem. The angry, alcoholic mods from fark have been bombarding the WIN Network comments section for some time, it's what they live for - pissing on your parade.
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9-14-2009 @ 2:57PM
MJL said...
Why would you post something like this to TV Squad, to vent and rant? Why should we care? You have your own website - why don't you use it for this sort of whining?
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9-14-2009 @ 6:15PM
NJ iCarly said...
The organizers will in fact be handing out pre-signed copies!
http://www.examiner.com/x-18355-Central-Jersey-Events-Examiner~y2009m9d14-Organizers-to-distribute-Miranda-Cosgrove-autographs-to-disappointed-iCarly-fans
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9-14-2009 @ 10:32PM
Kimberly said...
Ugh...I was at Bridgewater on Sunday. What a disaster! I felt so bad for all of those little girls waiting in line, still holding out hope to meet iCarly despite the hundreds of other little girls and the ticking clock. Poorly handled, and watch out - Stacy and Clinton from What Not to Wear will be there next weekend. Can you even imagine the poorly dressed people that are going to line up for that???
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9-15-2009 @ 6:42PM
Alex said...
All these events are first come, first serve. There is no guarantee off an autograph. The celebrity usually stays for 2:00 to 3:00 hours.
Still, I prefer it when you need to wait in line not to meet a star, but to get a pass/ticket/wristband to meet the person. Seems more efficient
Also, to everyone talking about "who would want an autograph?" most stars take a picture with the fans (even if management claims otherwise.)
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9-15-2009 @ 10:51PM
Chuck said...
It sucks, but really THIS was "about as bad as any fan of the show could experience"? I can think of a lot of ways in which this could've been worse.
and to those of you who don't "get" the autograph thing? Fine, but I'm sure there's plenty of things you like that others don't "get" either. It doesn't make it any less valid.
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