Michael Hutchison: December 2005 Archives
Did you miss out when Best Brains auctioned off all of their Mystery Science Theater 3000 props on eBay? Don't despair! Now you can buy Mike Nelson's used amps!
You're welcome.
Based on the results of the "How big should our archives be?" poll, I'm setting the forum archives to 12 months as of January 1, 2006. If you want to preserve some old favorite threads or conversations, you should head over to the forum and give them a bump now!
(For the uninitiated, "bump" means reply to them and say something to keep them alive.)
I'm a bit behind on my movie-watching for the holidays. I've got a free ticket to see King Kong, which I will allow myself to do next week if I get enough of my comic writing done, and Melinda wants to see The Producers for New Year's.
But after reading Jason Apuzzo's review of Munich, I wish I could go see it soon...and that's saying a lot, as I had little wish to see it at all before today. It's not so much that I've been worried about Spielberg's leanings as I am concerned about Tony Kushner's politically-obvious writing and the questionable book the movie was based on.
I'll summarize Apuzzo's review, though it's well worth reading in full: Spielberg has created an exciting thriller that is staunchly on the side of Israel almost in spite of the screenwriter, and it is only in the last 1/5th or so that the movie gets Kushner-heavy with "circle of violence" hand-wringing.
Granted, this seems to be a movie where viewers all take away different messages. Over on Dixonverse, Calamari Kid spoiled the ending shot and there was some discussion as to what it's really saying.
What's more, it seems as though 2005 was the year for Spielberg and Lucas to give interviews that gave viewers the wrong preconceptions of the movies they were making. In this case, Spielberg has talked of the movie being a message about "intransigence," and it sure doesn't sound like that was the message Apuzzo took from the film. Earlier this year, the public got the impression from interviews that Obi-Wan Kenobi was calling Dubya a Sith Lord and the Martian invaders were representing the American military, though the actual movies didn't really emphasize such a message. All such interviews manage to do is infuriate part of the potential audience and lead to negative commentary, and despite what they say about "no such thing as bad publicity" I have to think that hurts the box office in the long run. (Well, as much as ANYTHING can hurt a Star Wars movie's box office.)
Just perusing the DC releases in upcoming months and spotted this: Teen Titans Annual #1 by Geoff Johns and Marv Wolfman!
Holy cow! An honest and for-true boney fido annual! An annual just like my mother's comic book company used to make. The kind of epic extra-long story that needed extra pages but didn't cost quite as much as twice the price of a regular story. I loved these things. Annuals were those comics that the writers saved their BIG stories for. Sometimes a major story arc would build and build and then conclude in an epic annual where Terra has her showdown with the team she betrayed or Professor Stein dies just as the U.S. Government tries to nuke Firestorm. Dang, but I loved annuals back in the 1980s.
Then they decided to do theme annuals. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it started in 1991 with "Armageddon: 2001" in which we got to see fantastic stories of the possible future. That was fun! Then came Eclipso (meh!) and Bloodlines (BLECH!) and Elseworlds (awesome!) and Legends of the Dead Earth (oh, what sweet bilge is this?) and Pulp Stories (so-so)...and I don't even recall the order anymore, but there were Ghosts (a maudlin revisit to dead characters), Planet DC (made the multicultural SuperFriends characters look great), JLApe and others, mostly JLA-centered and all mediocre.
From 1995 onward, I can recall only a few truly great annuals and they were all ones where a writer managed to turn out an excellent story despite the theme. The two Starman annuals being the best such example.
There was a Legion Annual where Xs met Barry Allen. I loved that, though it does have a silly moment where Barry opens his secret ring and changes into his Flash costume right in front of his granddaughter who can see at superspeed. (I don't think they thought that through.) Unfortunately, that's only a diversion for a few pages before a regrettably boring "Dead Earth" story.
Anyway, the Annuals seemed to die off a few years back. I'm sure it was mostly due to lack of interest and partly because the stories couldn't compare in "epic" feel to the epic stories that are now told in 1/6ths proportions in every comic book on the rack. Plus, what will an annual cost in an age where a plain ol' comic book now costs $3? (Answer? $5.)
But I'm glad to see that DC has not only brought back the annual but they're going for a REAL annual. Just a self-contained (well, maybe, it's all tied in to Infinite Crisis, etc.) story told well; no crossovers, no themes, no events. Keep it up!
When the temperatures are in the upper thirties, don't park your SUV on the ice!
It is with much sadness that I must bring this obituary to your attention.
Actor Vincent Schiavelli, 57, Dies in Italy. If the name doesn't strike you as familiar, check out the picture. You may not have memorized the name like I did, but he's one of those "Hey, it's that guy!" character actors that you love to see.
I've liked this guy in everything. He was funny as a Russian spy in the first Gilligan's Island movie. He was funny in his brief appearance in an episode of "Head of the Class." He was funny as one of the alien lectroids in "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension." He was funny in my favorite Bond film, "Tomorrow Never Dies," as a ballistics professor who could fire an assassin's bullet from Stuttgart and still make it look self-inflicted. 
He was funny as the hologram of a weapons salesman who tries to sell Captain Picard the device that has killed everyone on the planet and is now gunning for his crew. For some reason, none of these are even mentioned in his official obit.
However, his range was wider than just the goofy appearances that capitalized on his, er, goofy appearance. I remember being quite moved by his performance as the spirit haunting a subway in the hit film "Ghost." He also portrayed a sideshow freak on The X-Files His list of dramatic roles is just as lengthy as his comedic roles.
57 is just way too young for Vincent Schiavelli to leave us. I'm sorry we won't see him in more films. R.I.P.
I've never seen the original version of The Hills Have Eyes, but I understand it's already one of the all-time great horror classics that did everything right. Why a remake? Are they going to have anyone as good and weird as that Michael Berryman fellow in the first one?
Remember what I said the other day about Christ figures? Remember how some people were annoyed about the obvious Christian symbolism in the new Superman Returns trailer? Well, just in time for Christmas, Dial B For Blog puts together quite an interesting presentation.
Yes, Virginia, There Is a Grinch ... on 'Everybody Hates Chris'
Chris Rock's TV show (he has a TV show?) on UPN (UPN is still on the air?) featured a plotline in which a young child is told "the truth about Santa." Parents are upset that their little children saw this.
What kind of parent lets their kids watch a show featuring Chris Rock? Heck, what kind of parent lets a six-year-old watch anything on broadcast TV?
Fake cripple fight!!!!
In 2004, South Park did an episode called "Up The Down Steroid" about the Special Olympics. One of the two plotlines involved Cartman faking a mental handicap so that he could compete in the Special Olympics and win $1000 since he easily beat the retarded kids. However, he learns that the Special Olympians are great athletes and he's a fat kid who is terrible at sports.
Today, the movie "The Ringer" (see trailer) opens with the exact same plotline. However, it's a live action movie that has taken seven years to go from development to movie, while South Park infamously completes its episodes in a week. So who has wronged who?
Find out in Entertainment Weekly Feature: Did ''Ringer'' rip off ''South Park'' -- or vice versa?
I haven't seen "The Ringer" yet, but I want to. Producers the Farrelly brothers ("Dumb and Dumber", "There's Something About Mary") often feature the mentally disabled and treat the subject with depth while still having a good time. Plus, the movie has gotten a big thumbs up from the Special Olympics organization.
If you remember the Aquaman swimming naked post from the other day, you'll love to read more of Peter's Problems on his honeymoon Disney cruise. It involves honeymoon costumed fantasies and a guy in a bear costume.
This guy either has the start of a very interesting life or his honeymoon will be so interesting that he'll never be able to top it.
Ghost Rider movie site is up. It requires Quicktime 8. The movie's release has been pushed back to 2007.
Thanks to Brianiac for the tip.
Beau Smith caves in faces with a fistful of Christmas in Beau Ho! HO! 2005
Mark Steyn reviews The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.
I saw the movie myself last week, and enjoyed it, though it's a bit too tame for my tastes. I don't want LOTR-style head-lopping, necessarily, but the battle of 1000s of creatures has fewer injuries than a battle with Cobra on the G.I. Joe cartoon. (You remember how all the Cobra jet pilots managed to parachute out of their planes in time because they saw the laser coming?) My parents and I have always disagreed about the portrayal of violence. They belong to the school which says that a film where a cowboy shoots 15 bad guys can be PG so long as every one of the baddies immediately covers the wound with his hand to spare us the sight of blood. I think battle has physical consequences and showing the realistic result of bullet wounds, stabbings and slashings is healthier.
As for all the non-Christians fretting about the story being a Christian allegory... I think it's a bunch of hype over nothing. Anyone with any understanding of film knows what a "Christ figure" is. The mass-murdering computer hacker Neo in the Matrix is an obvious Christ figure. OK, he doesn't care about anyone and is willing to kill pedestrians to save the hottie he loves, sure, but he is the savior anticipated by prophecy, etc. Speaking of Christ figures, how about Darth "virgin birthed by Midichlorians" Vader, the Chosen one? Lots of parallels there, but no one would confuse the youngling slasher with the Son of God. There are Christ figures all over our media.
When a movie has a vaguely respectful Christ figure and the production company thinks it will help sales to aggressively pursue a Christian audience to help their numbers, there is nothing wrong with that. Disney saw the dollars the Passion raked in by taking their show to churches and thought it would be profitable to get some of dat for themselves, so they used the same marketing firm and similar methods of outreach despite being very different films. Disney could use the appeal to a Christian audience after years of boycotts because of Gay Day at Disneyworld and other controversies. Promoting this film to Christians seems to be merely a sensible business decision, not one made out of a desire to proselytize. (I do think the Disney execs now saying "it's NOT a Christian film" are being weasels.)
Production company Walden Media is a company on a mission, but it's committed to family films of all kinds, not Christian films. (I linked to the assortment of upcoming films last week.) Most importantly, Aslan is a Christian allegory within a mythological fantasy family film; it's nothing to be overly worried about. Sure, the Narnia books and films may result in some additional Christians (unlike Harry Potter which hasn't led too many kids into witchcraft) if it is subjected to thought and analysis, but most people watching a fantasy film don't hold discussion groups afterward. Cal Thomas was quite happy that the film wasn't up to the preachy standards of Tim "Left Behind" LeHaye.
iowahawk: The Reel World has a list of 2006 films. Love this:
"If we've learned anything this year, it's that the market is really hungry for more good, slow, imponderable stories and dim lighting," and industry analyst Tim Jarrard of the trade journal Hollywood Reporter. "The industry has listened, and I think the public will be pleased with the direction it will be taking in 2006."
Hat tip: Libertas, again.
This movie is going to be much harder to market since, unlike The Passion, people don't know the story; a wordless trailer (to mask the lack of English dialogue) is just going to be strange.
Nice to see Bagheera getting some screen time.
Hat tip: Libertas.
I've heard of One Minute Shakespeare; now, here's the 30-second "A Christmas Story"
Performed by bunnies, too.
Blogging may be light until after the holidays.
Merry Christmas to all of our readers.
UPDATE: Late to the party AGAIN! J. Morgan Neal points out all the other wonderful 30 second bunny re-enactments. Alien, Highlander, Jaws, Star Wars (Han shoots first)... wow.
First the Sudetenland, now they get to read Brath #15, which was never released in the States.
Hat tip: Brath's writer, Chuck Dixon
Here's a question: how big does an aquatic creature have to be for Aquaman to control it? Can he send swarms of Sea Lice towards Ocean Master or Black Manta? Then he could just let them get away and tackle them later at the hospital while they're covered in nothing but a hospital gown and topical cream.
A real life Tattooed Man is covered with comic book art (and a liger from Napoleon Dynamite).
Entertainment Tonight snagged an early glimpse of Apocalypto (directed by Mel Gibson). It's a brief clip, with a rapid-fire mess of images (why is that suddenly so headache-inducingly popular?).
This is the movie about the fall of the Mayan empire which will be entirely in the Mayan language.
Hat tip to Libertas.
Opening a three hour movie on a Wednesday night that wasn't a holiday appears to have been a serious boner (you know, like a mixup or a SNAFU) for Universal.
Honestly, I had no idea this was opening on a Wednesday. Did you? How long ago did you know? In all the advertising for this movie, they've never shouted "Opens Wednesday!!!!"
Sure, some movies open great on Wednesdays, but in every case I can recall, they shared these considerations:
1) The Wednesday was a holiday so they could go during the day, or Thursday was a holiday so people weren't as concerned about staying up late due to work the next day.
2) There was a MAJOR, and I'm talking MAJOR media campaign geared towards getting the point across that it was opening in the middle of a week (OR hyping the exact date that it opened until we all had it memorized)
3) It wasn't a three hour long movie that would have you going home at 10PM when you had to work the next day.
For King Kong, a very long movie to open on a Wednesday in mid-December without much publicity about the opening date, this has proved to be a catastrophe. Thursday, which wasn't the opening day and was still a work day with a work day to go to on Friday, too, saw the ticket sales dip 35% from the opening day take.
Universal played this wrong. Whoever thought up opening this on a Wednesday was bananas. I still think that the weekend will prove fruitful for the big ape, but until then they're going to have to live with sniping from the likes of Drudge and Roger Friedman (who doesn't seem to think about any of the factors I raised and instead thinks that it's just because Kong is not a kid's movie. Ugh.)
Daily Box Office - Wednesday, December 14, 2005 shows a pretty poor showing for King Kong. Drudge Report is already hyping that it may be a bomb.
Frankly, I run a geek news blog and I didn't know until two days ago that it was opening on a Wednesday. Maybe that's the problem? I bet business picks up this weekend.
Scott Adams recounts on The Dilbert Blog: How to be a Marketing Genius how he offered a free downloadable version of his first book, "God's Debris" to see if it would help in the sales of his second book, and then concludes from the pathetic version of free downloads (170,000 + who knows how many people they shared their downloads with) vs. sales of the sequel in hard copy (under 1000) that people are only interested in free stuff. Buncha takers only interested in freebies, that's what WE are!
Odd that he doesn't even consider any of the many possible problems with this analysis. I'm not even a sales analyst, but I can already list a number of flaws:
1) Right off the bat, he's assuming we're all fans who will love his book. They may have downloaded it and hated it. It is about religion, right? Maybe I won't like what Scott Adams has to muse about religion. Perhaps I'll download his free book just to skim it over, realize my guess was right and I have no interest in that book or the sequel.
2) Maybe they haven't read it yet. A download isn't a viewing. It's not the same as opening it with the reading software that must be required. (Even if it's Adobe Acrobat; some people don't have that installed.)
3) Maybe they haven't read all of it yet. Reading at the computer isn't like curling up in an easy chair for a couple hours.
I'm sure you can think up many other problems with his analysis.
Hudson Hawk gets its wings clipped by an Agony Booth Mega Review.
I wish their site could post new reviews more often. This one's hilarious just for the many pictures of Bruce Willis mugging for the camera. I never watched Hudson Hawk; the trailer, in which Bruce tried very hard to be funny as he's dragged behind a vehicle, seemed awful enough.
What a great King of Days it has been for me. (King of Days, to the uninitiated, is Wednesday when the new comics arrive.) I've got several reasons to be happy.
First off: Teen Titans #30 has me in 1980s La-La-Land, with the first real Captain Carrot story since 1986's Oz-Wonderland War, PLUS the first real look at Kid Devil in ages (aside from one every-teen-hero-imaginable grouping that was in Young Justice).
Sure, Captain Carrot gets glimpsed here and there, with a sliver of time in "The Kingdom #2", a page in the out-of-continuity "World's Funnest", as a painting on the wall of Lyta Trevor's apartment in Infinity Inc., etc. But a genuine story, with the characters I've missed for 20 years finally moving and talking. Oh, it warms my heart and takes me back to those days when comics were fun to read instead of just wall-to-wall death, heartache and no-holds-barred-villainy...even if it's in the form of a Captain Carrot comic book that is clearly following the same comic book trends, with dead teammates, tragic backstories and an alcoholic, chain-smoking Roger Rodney Rabbit hiding from the world in a grotty apartment.
The only really bad thing about this is that it's in the form of a comic within Teen Titans instead of a mini-series of its own like it deserves to be. Not that I've anything against Teen Titans, one of the better books DC publishes. I'd be pretty happy if Kid Devil reappears with some new powers of his own and joins the Titans.
Here's something I didn't think I'd ever say: kudos to Judd Winick. I know, I know, he's the writer everyone I know loves to hate, but at least he's the FIRST writer in a year and a half to actually use the word "rape" in referring to what Dr. Light did in Identity Crisis #2. That was last month in Green Arrow #57, which ended with a terrific cliffhanger. (That page of Conner Hawk standing ready for battle is a memorable scene.) It's great to hear Dr. Light say what I've been thinking for over a year: that while the League's been tearing itself apart in angst over an old not-that-big-a-deal mindwipe, Dr. Light isn't all that bothered by it, he's amazed the JLA let him live.
Finally, anyone who loves plain ol' fun comic books needs to be buying five copies of the new Jonah Hex. Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray are doing stellar work in telling stories that fit the modern comic book sensibilities but ... get this, okay ... the stories are 22 PAGES LONG and then THEY END! None of this dang "writing for the trade" nonsense, no Infinite Crisis crossovers, no mega-stories, no endless breastbeating about mind-wiping a rapist, no huge backstory that leaves you feeling like you need a Secret Files and Origins to get all the continuity changes that happened while you were away. Just a snarling bounty hunter with a heart and a sharp wit who sometimes helps the downtrodden and always kills the bad guys. If you missed issue #1, guess what? IT DOESN'T MATTER! You can pick up issue #2 and start there. Isn't that truly amazing? When was the last time there was a comic book that was so approachable you could just start reading from whatever issue happens to be on the rack? Comic books used to be like that all the time; now it's a curiosity that needs to be in a Ripley's Believe It Or Not cartoon.
I'm actually about Jonah Hex'd out because last month I read through the Showcase Presents Jonah Hex book (HIGHLY recommended, and I wish I'd mentioned it earlier in the Christmas season as it's a great gift for a comic fan). I'd never heard of writer John Albano before but I came away impressed with his writing skill. Those "Weird Western Tales" stories from the early 1970s read like a modern comic that could be published this month. Then I moved on to reading the three Vertigo Jonah Hex mini-series by Tim Truman and Joe Lansdale, Two-Gun Mojo, Riders of the Worm and Such and Shadows West, all of which I'd bought off of Scott Beatty. Three great minis, and I wish all of them were in TPB format so I could recommend them to you, though I imagine "Riders" will stay buried due to the lawsuit by The Winter Brothers.
Sesame Street is being adapted for French TV but without Kermit the Frog, who might offend some sensibilities (and lead to far too many "tastes like chicken" jokes, perhaps). Elmo, in fact, will be the only familiar face (that is, if you grew up with Elmo; he's after my time, as is the Public Knowledge Snuffleupagus and the Cookie Monster singing about fruit, ya Philistines!).
New characters for "5 Rue Sesame" will include Blancy the flag.
The series is being done instead of simply dubbing American versions of Sesame Street in order to give it more of a French sensability, such as buildings laced with graffiti to reflect French suburban rioting. (No, seriously. That's from the article, not a joke by me. Honest!) The premiere episode will feature Muppets burning down their McDonalds. (Okay, THAT is a joke...although the article does go on to express distaste for McDonalds.)
Hat tip to Michelle Malkin and No Pasaran!
Every time someone posts a thread asking what people are currently reading or what they recommend, I am sure to mention PS 238 (PS being "public school"; many elementary schools use a numbering system instead of naming the school). Aaron Williams' PS 238 is a terrific book and I probably wouldn't even be getting it if Aaron's wife hadn't comped me a copy, so I don't blame you if you haven't heard of it.
I know I've linked to it. What I haven't done, for some goofball reason, is tell you that there are now two trade paperbacks of the PS 238 saga and linked you to them. Problem is that I had difficulty finding them.
With Liberty and Recess for All! (This doesn't even appear in Amazon's listings, I'm afraid, but the ISBN is correct.)
To the Cafeteria...For Justice!
From what I hear, Volume 1 may be out of print, though it is available from some vendors and you can always get it from Aaron's web site.
Marvel.com's "dotcomics" have returned according to this Newsarama article.
I'm just compiling a list of links to reviews of Job Wanted and my other works. I need to keep them in one place and a Monitor Duty post is as easy as anything else.
Job Wanted reviewed by Glenn Carter at Silver Bullet.
And Silver Bullet reviewed our Time Meddlers story in SSCA #4.
Comics Continuum preview of Job Wanted.
Bloggity-Blog-Blog-Blog review of Job Wanted.
Comics.org listing for Job Wanted. (Note to self: Join comics.org, add cover graphic, update text, rule)
SSCA #4 with our Time Meddlers story was reviewed by:
ComicBooknet E-Mag
Joe Crow in RevolutionSF
Sarah Haslett reviewed SSCA 1-5 but I can only find this Google cached version; is there still a viable link somewhere?
...and we get dissed by Steven Grant.
And I found Eric Spratling's review of Job Wanted for Monitor Duty...which, unfortunately, was lost when our old blog crashed, but Google has it cached. I'm going to save it in our extended entry.
Cox & Forkum: Ballot Boxing has an update on the Weblog Awards.
Remember, you can vote once a day for multiple days in a row to help your candidate win. (See Chicago voting systems)
Oh, and Day by Day is in Wikipedia. I'm jealous. Fanzing is used as a reference link all over Wikipedia, but no one has ever done an article about Fanzing (even though there's a link to the article that doesn't exist). I guess I need to make one, though that seems really self-indulgent.
Two weeks ago on the Dixonverse message board, we started talking about children's books we'd enjoyed and wished they'd adapt into movies. Someone mentioned the book "How to Eat Fried Worms"; I remember reading that one as a kid.
Turns out Walden Media, the family entertainment company that is producing Narnia Chronicles, has "Fried Worms" on their schedule for 2006!
Other films they are working on include "Journey to the Center of the Earth," "Sherlock's Secretary" (referring to a writing desk which contains an unsolved Holmes case), "Amazing Grace" (about one man's fight to end slavery), "Manhunt" (about Harrison Ford pursuing the assassin of Abraham Lincoln) and "Charlotte's Web."
So long as they don't do anything as boneheaded as the disastrous "Around the World in Eighty Days", things look good for Walden Media.
Comics Continuum has posted the DC releases and covers for March, which is the start of One Year Later.
What does this mean to you? It means SPOILERS, lots and lots of SPOILERS, so I'm putting it in the extended entry.
Those of you who'd like to avoid spoilers can instead look at the cool DC Direct releases for March... INCLUDING Guy Gardner and Saalak action figures!!! (Can a Ch'p fig be far behind?)
I wrote before about this reality show in "'allo! Wot's all this gravity then?"
Chris Muir's "Day by Day" and Cox & Forkum are in a quite friendly competition to see who gets more votes in
The 2005 Weblog Award for Best Humor/Comics Blog.
What's great is the way they are so nice about it. Cox and Forkum did this cartoon on December 9th. Then Chris Muir gets back at them on December 10th and again on the 11th.
Monitor Duty isn't in the competition, unfortunately. I'm not even sure what category we would fit in, though I suppose "Culture and Gossip" may apply.
Comedian Richard Pryor dies at 65. Here is his filmography.
(No complaints about my subject line, please, as I rejected my first one: "Pryor's Place moves six feet under.")
- 'King Kong' sixth most expensive Hollywood film.
This is fascinating, but Peter Jackson's weight loss is even more impressive. Check out that picture! Someone's been staying away from the craft services table.
There's nothing worse than getting shot by police who think you're really in a brutal fight when you're filming your superhero movie in a giant banana costume.
Aquaman becomes "Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis" with new team of Kurt Busiek and artist Butch Guice. The new title signifies the sword and sorcery direction of the book.
Oh, and Arthur "Orin" Curry is not Aquaman.
Newsarama has an interview with Cully Hamner which shows the new Blue Beetle costume.
I will reserve comment, but you all go ahead and say what you think.
Whoops! There's also an X3 teaser trailer! Begging y'all's pardon.
Oh, and the trailer? Wicked awesome!
(No, I don't know why I switched from a Texas dialect to Bostonian between paragraphs.)
First look at Kelsey Grammer as The Beast!
Back in the mid-1990s, Phil Farrand debuted a book, "The Nitpicker's Guide for Next Generation Trekkers," which catalogued how often communicators and holodecks didn't function the same from episode to episode, as well as other incongruities, foibles and oddities. The book was wildly successful and led in short order to nitpicker's guides for Classic Trekkers, Deep Space Nine, the X-Files and a second volume for the Next Generation.
(NOTE: For some reason, both Amazon and Barnes and Noble have misinformation and display the Volume 2 cover for both books; however, I've verified the ISBN numbers. The links above are correct, although whether the resellers offering books through their service realize which one they're linking to is a good question. I'm contacting Amazon to get them to sort it out.)
As a huge fan of the books, I loved them and was eagerly anticipating further volumes...but they never appeared. I had always wondered why. A few years back I found Farrand's Nitpicker's Central online, where people were submitting further nitpicks for the Next Gen movies and episodes as well as other series. I figured he was collecting data and was working on something big...perhaps a revised volume for the complete Next Generation series, even.
Unfortunately, the reason for the ending of the Nitpicker's Guide series was far more sinister, as revealed in this archived 1998 newsletter post. Shocked by this discovery, I sought out an interview with Phil Farrand so that I could break the story of this seven-year-old occurrence that everyone knew about but me. It's a tragic tale of the crushing of a successful book franchise by a confluence of an errant judge, an unrelated legal case, the fear of lawsuits and America's lack of loser-pays laws.
Read on. You will be shocked or at least interested.
Oh, man, I'm telling you about this and then I'm sending the link to my wife! I just found out that Amazon dropped its prices on the first five volumes of the MST3K Box Sets! They are now only $26.47 each, which is even $10 cheaper than the price at DVDPacific (which before this had the DVDs far cheaper than Amazon's).
Here are the details:
MST3K Volume 1
Contains: