That Wacky Redhead
- Thread starter Brainbin
- Start date
I know I haven't commented in a while, but Brainbin, you know how to keep things interesting! To me, this is beginning to feel like less and less of a timeline, and more of a world building exercise. It continues to amaze me how you strand all of these disparate strands together (pop culture, politics, etc) to develop a cohesive whole.
One specific note: I wonder if the relative rise of monarchist sentiment in much of Europe could also lead to an increase in nationalism. Not of the fascist variety, but of the pre-Great War conservative variety? Could have an interesting (if somewhat disturbing) effect on electoral politics, especially in places like Germany.
One specific note: I wonder if the relative rise of monarchist sentiment in much of Europe could also lead to an increase in nationalism. Not of the fascist variety, but of the pre-Great War conservative variety? Could have an interesting (if somewhat disturbing) effect on electoral politics, especially in places like Germany.
Glen
Moderator
With regard to animated Return of the King - I suggest you check out this clip - if you don't like it, then don't waste time on the whole thing - if you do, then I would - http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hWjt6LGhHsI&feature=related
The expression "Trial of the Century" is a common one in American journalism, usually in reference to a cause célèbre of any given era. These have indeed generally been murders, though this is far from exclusively the case. You'll definitely find out just why I'm applying that moniker to this case, in due time.
The specific OTL incident for which Polanski was charged, and to which pled guilty, was butterflied ITTL; he did not direct Chinatown, and therefore he did not have occasion to visit the home of that film's star, Jack Nicholson, on that fateful evening. What I personally might like to become of Polanski, and what would be likely to happen to him, are two entirely different things, and frankly I can't quite bring myself to write about it. Either way, we won't be hearing about his filmmaking projects ITTL.Francisco Cojuanco said:
Glad you like it, Thande
As for Leslie, he did not get a first name, even ITTL; he's too cool for one Indeed it is, as noted in this post.
I really appreciate that lovely comment, vultan, because that really captures what I'm trying to do with this timeline. I've always had a pronounced fondness for world-building; in many ways I find it more enjoyable than narrative. Why do I write in narrative as opposed to straight exposition, then? That is a riddle for the ages...
An excellent observation. The post-WWII consensus for Western Europe has been a drive toward integration; and, fortunately for advocates of that approach, the three largest countries in the EEC all have highly fractured or disorganized monarchist movements. Germany, for example, is split between the old-style conservative nationalism personified by the Hohenzollerns (though the pretender, Louis Ferdinand, is himself a relative moderate), and the more modern, constitutional, liberal democratic monarchies of the UK, the Benelux, and Scandinavia, personified by none other than Otto von Habsburg (also the candidate of both the pan-German and the pro-integration lobbies). It should be noted that neither of these pretenders are actively (or even passively) pursuing the restoration of their titles, or even encouraging such. Thus, you can see how monarchism in Germany is far too fractured and confused to emerge into a cohesive force, even notwithstanding the Allies wanting to put it down if it ever caught on.vultan said:
Great catch! That was indeed a deliberate choice - I went with that sort of chartreuse or olive as a compromise colour.
Having duly watched that clip, I can now confirm that I have no intention whatsoever to watch the film in full, so thank you for helping me to reach that decision, Glen
And finally, as promised, the first of the many 1978 political infoboxes. The United Kingdom General Election came first that year, in May, and therefore so too will their results:
Of those parties not listed, the Scottish National Party won 12 seats, on nearly three percent of the popular vote (about 30% of the vote in Scotland); Plaid Cymru in Wales won two seats, and smaller parties won six seats (mostly in Northern Ireland). Recall that the Ulster Unionists remain affiliated with the Conservative (and Unionist) Party ITTL. The electorate comprised just over 31 million voters, an absolute decline from 1974, indicating high voter apathy (as does the relatively large vote share for the smaller parties).
The Canadian Federal Election of 1978, which was held in the dog days of summer, is next on the agenda.
I have to wonder, with everything going on regarding the FCC and the Family Viewing Hour... I wonder if the Supreme Court could rule differently on Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation, or an equivalent case? While we don't know the exact composition of the Supreme Court in this universe, it's safe to assume President Humphrey appointed some very different justices than Nixon. Also, it'd be nice to hear some more from George Carlin.
Intriguing thought. Perhaps we won't see the rise of strong corporate interests influencing government policy, since Justice Lewis Powell (Who wrote the memo that led to that) isn't put on the Supreme Court ITTL.
You know, I was wondering. With *Star Wars, if anything, more successful here than in real life, there would probably be a similar push for not only theatrical sequels, but also a TV special. We all know how that went down IOTL. But what if, just like IOTL, George Lucas hired an author to help him plan a tentative sequel to Star Wars in novel form, with the possibility of it being adapted to a film sequel should the movie be successful (the OTL purpose of Splinter of the Mind's Eye). Of course that plan was scrapped when the film became more successful than anyone could possibly imagine and a more ambitious follow-up was planned.
Here, what if a similar novel was written, and Paramount decides to produce it as a big-budgeted TV film in order to tide fans over until another theatrical installment is released? I imagine, given their experience with televised sci-fi, Desilu would be heavily involved. Also, perhaps it allows Darth Vader to show up after all. When Lucas was working with Alan Dean Foster on Splinter, he used leftover plot elements from earlier script drafts that never made it to the movie. Perhaps, inspired by a Ralph McQuarrie design for some sort of evil space overlord in a cyborg suit, Lucas reincorporates Darth Vader as a standalone villain for the movie, a Sith Lord and Imperial agent who is killed by Luke at the end of the special. That way, Vader still exists, but he's not part of the proper film saga. And James Earl Jones still has his iconic role.
Here, what if a similar novel was written, and Paramount decides to produce it as a big-budgeted TV film in order to tide fans over until another theatrical installment is released? I imagine, given their experience with televised sci-fi, Desilu would be heavily involved. Also, perhaps it allows Darth Vader to show up after all. When Lucas was working with Alan Dean Foster on Splinter, he used leftover plot elements from earlier script drafts that never made it to the movie. Perhaps, inspired by a Ralph McQuarrie design for some sort of evil space overlord in a cyborg suit, Lucas reincorporates Darth Vader as a standalone villain for the movie, a Sith Lord and Imperial agent who is killed by Luke at the end of the special. That way, Vader still exists, but he's not part of the proper film saga. And James Earl Jones still has his iconic role.
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This may be crass, but with the brief mentions of Porno Chic, did you intentionally ignore the one involving a certain trip to Dallas?
(Blame the Cinema Snob for making me think of this...)
(Blame the Cinema Snob for making me think of this...)
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Uh, if you're referring to what I think you're referring to, then...
"Tentative plans to air some form of continuation to Journey of the Force, perhaps in the form of a holiday special, were nixed by none other than George Lucas, who refused to condone such a blatant cash grab as long as none of said cash would be filling his coffers."
Right, but I specifically phrased it in a way so that it wouldn't be the Holiday Special. If it's in a form more suitable to him, I think he'd be more amenable. After all, seeing as this hypothetical special would be an adaptation of a continuation novel bearing Lucas' name, it would boost the profile of the book, allow him to financially gain from that.
See my edited post, and the possible financial reasoning on Lucas' part. If he'd stand to gain from the book sales, it'd make sense for him to allow Paramount to adapt it as a TV special, as a form of promotion.
Seems likely to not be anything, honestly. From the little bits I do know about the Trial of the Century (and much of this is already in the posts) Lucas and Paramount execs are settling down for an all-out slugging match over the profits just from JotF. That's not a climate friendly to further adaptions. My guess is that George isn't going to be interested in giving Paramount another chance to screw him even more, and Paramount isn't going to want anything to do with George until they've brought him to heel--and without both onboard, any adaption is going nowhere.
As for Vader, there is something like him in the movie, he just didn't figure in the original post because he's not the main villain and we didn't do a detailed plot summary--and this is why: the big butterfly isn't in the plot details, it's in the Lucas family structure and the legal arrangements.
Interesting info box. It looks like Jeremy Thorpe's Bunnies went to France just as in OTL.
Cheers,
Nigel.
Thank you, Thande
The first of many landmark decisions with regards to telecommunications by the Supreme Court ITTL, it would seem. Worth noting is that not one of the five Justices who formed the majority on the case were seated by January 20, 1969. Considering that it was decided by a 5-4 margin, I think it's a safe bet to say that any equivalent case would have gone the other way ITTL. The resultant backlash against it then allows the FCC to play it strictly by the book in instituting the Family Viewing Hour later in the decade.
The problem is, I don't use any of the Seven Words You Can't Say On Television, so anything I were to write about him would probably be rather... lacklustrevultan said:
That came out much later than 1972. Call it the "last hurrah" of OTL porno chic; I was discussing the heyday (in large part because it's much harder to ignore).
This is a really fun and interesting idea, vultan, but I'm afraid that e of pi is right. The relationship between Lucas and Bluhdorn is positively corrosive. There's no way that Paramount is going to be producing anything with the fingerprints of either Lucas on it. We're just going to have to wait until this legal business between the two parties reaches a proper conclusion. And depending on verdicts and appeals, that could take years. The one advantage in this instance with regards to The Journey of the Force, when compared to Star Wars, is that the former is, relatively speaking, even more of a stand-alone film than the latter.You know, I was wondering. With *Star Wars, if anything, more successful here than in real life, there would probably be a similar push for not only theatrical sequels, but also a TV special. We all know how that went down IOTL. But what if, just like IOTL, George Lucas hired an author to help him plan a tentative sequel to Star Wars in novel form, with the possibility of it being adapted to a film sequel should the movie be successful (the OTL purpose of Splinter of the Mind's Eye). Of course that plan was scrapped when the film became more successful than anyone could possibly imagine and a more ambitious follow-up was planned.
Here, what if a similar novel was written, and Paramount decides to produce it as a big-budgeted TV film in order to tide fans over until another theatrical installment is released? I imagine, given their experience with televised sci-fi, Desilu would be heavily involved. Also, perhaps it allows Darth Vader to show up after all. When Lucas was working with Alan Dean Foster on Splinter, he used leftover plot elements from earlier script drafts that never made it to the movie. Perhaps, inspired by a Ralph McQuarrie design for some sort of evil space overlord in a cyborg suit, Lucas reincorporates Darth Vader as a standalone villain for the movie, a Sith Lord and Imperial agent who is killed by Luke at the end of the special. That way, Vader still exists, but he's not part of the proper film saga. And James Earl Jones still has his iconic role.
Sorry, but that won't be ready for at least another week, and possibly longer. But there will be more goodies in the interim
Thank you, Nigel. And yes, the Liberals have their new leader. But how far will he take his party? There's only one way to find out!
And now, as promised, the Infobox for the Canadian Federal Election of 1978:
The Tories (PCs) won very few of the 18 "new seats", instead making gains mostly at the expense of the Liberals and, to a lesser extent, the Socreds. (They did not gain a single seat from the NDP.) Most of the "new seats" were won by the Liberals, though they also lost several of their old seats to all three of the other parties, mitigating these gains. The NDP mostly won seats in the prairie provinces, the home region of their leader, and entirely at the expense of the Tories. This came about largely because the Socreds, despite losing seats in their stronghold of Quebec, saw increased vote share throughout English Canada (mostly in the West), getting their best numbers there since the schism of the 1960s (which saw the party wiped out everywhere outside of la belle province). This resulted in a splitting of the vote between the "right-wing" parties.
Coming up next, the United States House of Representatives! Or, perhaps, it might be time For Something Completely Different...
Change in composition from before the election. If you go from 45-55 to 55-45, it's a 10% swing. And it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing...