I have to admit, until the last few years, even as a non-Star Wars fan, I was surprised when folks had not seen Star Wars.
I am, myself, a Trekkie, but I wonder if I could have been a Star Wars fan. (By the by, you guys are missing out on a great nickname - you could *easily* convince the world to refer to you as Warriors. Just sayin'.)
I was introduced to Star Wars badly. My father took us to see Return of the Jedi in the theaters (for I am old). It was okay, I guess, but I had no idea who these characters were or why the teddy bears were fighting.
A couple of years later, I saw the first film on an HBO free weekend (remember those?).
It wasn't until I was in high school that I had a friend, a Star Wars fan, that learned I had never seen The Empire Strikes Back, who made me watch it on VHS. ("Dude, you've never seen Empire?!? That is the BEST ONE!")
And, so I saw it. And, yeah, it was the best, but the die had been cast. I was firmly in the Star Trek camp, and never caught the fascination with the Wars universe.
Had I been shown the films in proper order, would I have been more into them? I watched the 3-1-2, with long breaks between.
Of course, I should note - my father? He is the one that introduced me to Star Trek. He was a Trekkie, too. Perhaps it was no accident that I was shown the Wars films out of order. Perhaps it was all part of an insidious plot...
You're not that old.. I saw Star Wars, first run, when I was 9.
I think the hallmark of geek culture should be that you like what you like A LOT! I am just as fanboy for Deadwood as I am for Travis McGee novels as I am for the Marvel Universe as I am for Final Fantasy games. You don't like them? That's cool, tell me what you like so that I can try it out.
If there were a Geek constitution - this would be the preamble. :)
Both playdoh and shroud are correct - Firefly failed because mainstream America didn't watch it, and mainstream America didn't watch it because Fox wouldn't commit to a regular timeslot for it. We're Americans - we like consistency. :) But geek culture =/= mainstream American culture. It's a wonder ANYthing we like gets beyond a season, if you think about it.
We'd be so much better off if we didn't treat our fandoms like they were political parties. Instead of "Oh, you like Robotech? That's just a ripoff of Macross." why not "Oh, you liked Robotech? Ever check out the Gundam series?" Instead of "Oh, you think Dr. Who started with Eccleston? Piss off." why not "Check out some of the earlier actors. Yeah, the sets are cheezy but you'll love the stories." Instead of "Oh, you like My Little Pony? When are you coming out?" why not "I've heard it's funny but it's not for me. Then again, I watched a show where a greasy muscled guy in a loincloth fought a guy with a skull face. I may be the one in the closet!"
To go back to the immortal words of brother Henry Rollins, the problem does not lie with those who have the enjoyment of something, but with those who feel the need to judge them for their enjoyment of it. Or, to quote him: "Music doesn't suck right now...YOU suck right now. Comics don't suck right now...YOU suck right now." :)
The "lack of mainstream viewing" that killed Firefly was not necessarily because America lacked a taste for it. It has been well documented that Fox, during that time, was run by suits who were famous for moving shows around, to purposefully dodge and confuse viewers and create a paper trail of bad ratings, leading to cancellation.
The scenario goes like this: Firefly costs 1 million per episode to produce (just making this up). The revenue the show can generate in prime has a maximum potential of about 1.1 million per episode. World's Deadliest Police Chases costs 10,000 per episode. By contract, we can't cancel Firefly unless the ratings fall below a certain rank for 3 weeks in a row. Move it around until it happens. Cancelled.
This happened to Firefly, and the Tick live action show. I have heard interviews with Patrick Warburton where he spoke very openly about this.
Fred, can I tell you a secret? During the 70's, when I was a wee lad, the Raiders were my second favorite team. This is before Al Davis went crazy and Commitment to Excellence became Commitment to Excrement. I liked and respected the "Just win, baby." Raiders because they thumbed their noses at the veneer of the NFL, telling fans that pro football was a job and they do their job better then anyone else. I don't know when "I don't care about the image" became, "I don't care.", but it saddens me a bit to see the Raiders suck soooooooo bad. The week before a Broncos vs. Raiders game used to be a lot of fun.
Yes. The veneer is gone. I think the rivalry switched to Denver and KC. I was young, but I do remember when the Raiders were formidable and even a little scary. Now they're just illiterate (I mean they probably always have been, but now it's just sad). ;D
As someone that is married to a woman that has yet to have seen full Star Wars trilogy (she had seen episode IV and V as a child - we just watched 'The Empire Strikes Back' together Christmas night), I'm a little concerned about defending the usefulness of the "plot twist" in but 'Return of the Jedi' I mean, how stupid is it that Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker are brother and sister? For one, it makes the sexual tension between them in the original 'Star Wars' retroactively creepy and terrible. And, it makes the 'Star Wars' universe feel that much smaller - by making two characters who otherwise have nothing in common siblings, the trilogy stops being about a galactic struggle and starts being about a dysfunctional family. 'Return of the Jedi' has its fair share of problems (it's easily the worst of the original trilogy), but this one really was a bit of a nightmare. I don't even think I am going to bother watching the prequels with her.
As someone that is married to a woman that has yet to have seen full Star Wars trilogy (she had seen episode IV and V as a child - we just watched 'The Empire Strikes Back' together Christmas night), I'm a little concerned about defending the usefulness of the "plot twist" in but 'Return of the Jedi' I mean, how stupid is it that Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker are brother and sister? For one, it makes the sexual tension between them in the original 'Star Wars' retroactively creepy and terrible. And, it makes the 'Star Wars' universe feel that much smaller - by making two characters who otherwise have nothing in common siblings, the trilogy stops being about a galactic struggle and starts being about a dysfunctional family. 'Return of the Jedi' has its fair share of problems (it's easily the worst of the original trilogy), but this one really was a bit of a nightmare. I don't even think I am going to bother watching the prequels with her.
are you familiar with the machete viewing order? try watching them in this order: IV, V, I, II, III, VI.
or better yet IV, V, II, III, VI cutting out Episode 1 altogether.
Well, I ran off on a tangent and downloaded the Phantom Edit, Attack of the Phantom, and am downloading the Despecialized Harmy editions now... jeez I needed this info like a hole in the head, but again, thanks for the info!
Abstract. Time travel has captured the public imagination for much of the past century, but little has been done to actually search for time travelers. Here, three implementations of Internet searches for time travelers are described, all seeking a prescient mention of information not previously available. The first search covered prescient content placed on the Internet, highlighted by a comprehensive search for specific terms in tweets on Twitter. The second search examined prescient inquiries submitted to a search engine, highlighted by a comprehensive search for specific search terms submitted to a popular astronomy web site. The third search involved a request for a direct Internet communication, either by email or tweet, pre-dating to the time of the inquiry. Given practical verifiability concerns, only time travelers from the future were investigated. No time travelers were discovered. Although these negative results do not disprove time travel, given the great reach of the Internet, this search is perhaps the most comprehensive to date.
Is that Valerie Perez playing Wonder Woman? If so, I think this is the first time I've heard her speak.
Yes.
There's another segment with a lengthy interview. She's delightfully dorky.
I'm going to need to find that. Does she appear as Zatanna in any of these JLA Fan Films?
Not that I've seen so far.
I was lucky enough to be present for this:
Who's the elderly gentleman?
Irwin Hasen. Golden Age artist of “Green Lantern,” “Justice Society,” and my personal fave of his superhero stuff, “Wildcat,” as well as the creator of the long-running Dondi newspaper strip and a funny, funny guy.
So I was just completing my DCBS order and I saw Warren Ellis is writing a new Moon Knight series. I like Moon Knight but he seems like a character than can never get any traction. I like Ellis but he never seems to stick around long enough to get a really good run going.
Comments
The scenario goes like this: Firefly costs 1 million per episode to produce (just making this up). The revenue the show can generate in prime has a maximum potential of about 1.1 million per episode. World's Deadliest Police Chases costs 10,000 per episode. By contract, we can't cancel Firefly unless the ratings fall below a certain rank for 3 weeks in a row. Move it around until it happens. Cancelled.
This happened to Firefly, and the Tick live action show. I have heard interviews with Patrick Warburton where he spoke very openly about this.
:D
or better yet IV, V, II, III, VI cutting out Episode 1 altogether.
here is the source article
http://static.nomachetejuggling.com/machete_order.html
http://www.denofgeek.us/movies/star-wars/18992/would-george-lucas-approve-of-the-star-wars-machete-order
http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_756749123&feature=iv&src_vid=iuYSSoF6gps&v=kpa-Kbi1gxo
That said, I'm not that naive. I watched it first with my headphones. #:-S But that kinda stuff is really just internet etiquette. :)
If so, I think this is the first time I've heard her speak.
There's another segment with a lengthy interview. She's delightfully dorky.
>-)
I've met her at a couple HeroesCons. She really is magnificent. And sweet.
I was lucky enough to be present for this:
http://touch.denofgeek.us/denofgeekus/#!/entry/warren-ellis-to-write-new-moon-knight-series-for-marvel,528fa1a2025312186c8e7861
I just knew that our dog has a plan
:D