I returned to The Hollywood Show in Burbank on May 29th and 30th, 2026, for what turned out to be one of the most memorable weekends the convention has hosted in years – a two-day event packed with fans, collectors, cast reunions, and more.
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Earlybird Fans!
The Earlybird session filled up fast – collectors with their boxes, their lobby cards, their VHS sleeves, the stuff they’ve been holding onto for years. I love those people. I mean it.
There’s something about someone who’s kept a signed photo in a sleeve for two decades that tells you everything about how much this stuff matters to them.
We had real conversations at that table. Not just “sign here” – actual back-and-forth about where a piece came from, what film it was tied to, what year. That’s the part of these shows I don’t take for granted.
By the time general admission opened, the floor was moving. The energy was different from some of the more recent shows I’ve done. People were genuinely excited – not just about meeting their favorites, but about the panels, the reunions, the props on display. You could feel it.
The Jaws Reunion was Awesome
I wasn’t fully prepared for how good the Jaws reunion was going to be.
The show put together what they’re calling the biggest Jaws cast reunion ever assembled – Richard Dreyfuss (who unfortunately had to back out), Carl Gottlieb, Ted Grossman, Carla Hogendyk, Robert Tanenbaum, Joe Alves, Jeffrey Voorhees, and more.
There was a full Saturday panel, and they had original screen-used props and production display pieces from the film set up in the lobby. An actual life-size display which people were stopping in front of and staring.
The story that’s been getting the most attention since the show is Jeffrey Voorhees – the kid who played Alex Kintner, the boy eaten by the shark in the film’s most iconic scene. Remind Magazine ran his full story, and it’s worth reading.
He was a local Martha’s Vineyard kid who signed up as an extra for $40 a day, had no idea what the movie was, and only found out he was going to die when Spielberg’s team handed him the release.
He still lives on Martha’s Vineyard. Still walks his dog on the same beach. “I still walk my dog every day where I got chowed,” he told them. “It’s fun.”
Grease, Gumdrops and a 48-year-old Blooper
The Grease panel had its own moment. Barry Pearl, who played Doody in the film, finally told the full story behind one of the movie’s most random lines – and it turns out it was a complete accident that made the final cut.
The short version: he was supposed to say something in Italian, started to say it, then pivoted mid-word and said “Gumdrops, man”. He had a Pepsi in one hand and a yellow squirt gun in the other. It meant nothing. And that’s the take they used. Here’s the whole story.
Lorenzo Lamas was there for the Grease reunion too, along with Michael Tucci and Jon Bauman from Sha Na Na. Adrian Zmed was part of the T.J. Hooker reunion alongside William Shatner. That pairing alone – Shatner at 95, still sharp, still commanding a room – was worth the trip for a lot of people in that building.
Mrs. Doubtfire and Robin Williams Stories
The Mrs. Doubtfire cast reunion was one of the quieter moments of the weekend, but it hit harder than almost anything else.
Matthew Lawrence, Mara Wilson, and Lisa Jakub – the three kids from the film – were all there together. And they talked about Robin Williams. Not in a rehearsed, press-junket way. In the way people talk about someone they actually knew and miss.
Matthew told the story about Robin wanting to test his Mrs. Doubtfire disguise in public – grabbing Matthew, walking out onto the street, getting into conversations with strangers, and pulling it off every time. “These people walked away thinking, ‘What a lovely lady,'” he said.
Lisa’s story was the one that stayed with me. She got kicked out of her school in Canada because the teachers couldn’t keep up with the workload of a child actor filming on location. She was 14. Robin found out she was upset and wrote a letter to her principal – a kind, personal letter asking them to let her back in. The principal framed it and put it on the wall. Didn’t ask her back. But the point, as Lisa put it, is that Robin saw a kid he didn’t have to care about and went out of his way anyway.
And… that principal can fuck off.
I didn’t know Robin the way they did. But I’ve been in this industry long enough to know that the stories people tell about someone after they’re gone are the truest measure of who they were.
The Rest of the Show Floor
A few other things worth mentioning.: Tiffany Million was there. Heather Locklear made her first-ever Hollywood Show appearance – and from what I saw, the response was exactly what you’d expect.
Heather Thomas was there. Mamie Van Doren was signing her new book. Engelbert Humperdinck showed up Saturday. Cherie Currie from The Runaways and MacKenzie Phillips, too.
The vendor floor was what it always is at a good Hollywood Show – the kind of place where you look up and an hour has gone by. Comic books, vintage posters, signed photos, old toys, rare magazines.
TV Insider and Remind Magazine ran a full photo gallery from the weekend if you want to see how it all looked.
The Hollywood Show runs three times a year at the Burbank Marriott. I don’t make it to every one, but when I do, I try to actually be present – not just sitting behind a table waiting for the line to move.
If you came out this weekend and we got to talk, thank you. If you brought something for me to sign and made it to the Earlybird session, I hope it was worth it. And if you missed it – well, there’s always next time.