You're more than welcome to the 1940s, although I would advise you to be far more cautious in any re-imagining of the progress of World War II ;)

We all have shameful pasts, OK? I'm just trying to forget that it ever happened. :D

By the way, would anyone like to suggest who might play the role of Prime Minister Whiffle in Prepare for War? I already have President Blaster (Gregory Peck), President Gloverrain (Rene Auberjonois), and Prime Minister Stamford (Leslie Nielsen) cast, so I feel I should finish out the set. I was going to cast Nicholas Smith (whom I've just learned passed away a couple of months ago - may the last of the Grace Bros. originals RIP) from Are You Being Served, as he did fit the description, but I feel Spielberg would probably cast an actor with greater transatlantic fame. So, whom should he pick?

Two words: Laurence Olivier. He was in a lot of bizarre movies in his later career; maybe we can give him a good one?

(Or maybe Peter O'Toole. He would work, too.)
 
And now for a very special announcement/request!

As you may know, voting for the Turtledove Awards, this site's longest-running and most prestigious honour, is taking place at this very moment. That Wacky Redhead is nominated in the category of Best TL with a POD After 1960. If you enjoy this timeline, please consider casting your vote in its favour - the polls close in just under 48 hours, and every vote counts! :)

Thanks to all of you who have already voted, and thanks in advance to any of you who choose to do so as the race enters the home stretch!
 
Hey yeah! Best of luck! Oh, and, what's I, Claudius like (if existant) ITTL? Perhaps we might have Charlton Heston in the eponymous role, as was originally planned?
 
Other than Harry Potter and the Small Screen, probably the POD which interests me the most is one which - perhaps appropriately enough - begins almost as TWR ends. It would certainly be thematically appropriate, and it would probably be the closest I would ever come to writing a true sequel. (Of course, the POD would be in the mid-to-late-1980s, so it wouldn't be an actual sequel.)
Could we get another hint?
 
Other than Harry Potter and the Small Screen, probably the POD which interests me the most is one which - perhaps appropriately enough - begins almost as TWR ends. It would certainly be thematically appropriate, and it would probably be the closest I would ever come to writing a true sequel. (Of course, the POD would be in the mid-to-late-1980s, so it wouldn't be an actual sequel.)

Could we get another hint?
Alternate Star Trek: The Next Generation?
Alternate Star Wars sequels?
:eek: Back to the Future gets made as "The Saucer Men From Pluto"? :D :rolleyes:
 
Alternate Star Trek: The Next Generation?
Alternate Star Wars sequels?
:eek: Back to the Future gets made as "The Saucer Men From Pluto"? :D :rolleyes:

I think the POD is either in late 1985 or 1986. By then, most of Back to the Future is complete. Could affect the sequels though.

By the way, who thought that was a good title for a film about time travel? It just references a single joke in the film.
 
I think the POD is either in late 1985 or 1986. By then, most of Back to the Future is complete. Could affect the sequels though.

By the way, who thought that was a good title for a film about time travel? It just references a single joke in the film.
Some studio exec (with enough clout that no-one could directly gain-say him) wanted them to completely re-write the movie to accommodate the name change. The only reason they finally got him off their case was because Spielberg sent the guy a note saying "We all got a kick out of that hilarious joke" (or something to that effect), and the guy was too proud to go back and tell them that he was serious (which Spielberg knew would be the case).
 
Some studio exec (with enough clout that no-one could directly gain-say him) wanted them to completely re-write the movie to accommodate the name change. The only reason they finally got him off their case was because Spielberg sent the guy a note saying "We all got a kick out of that hilarious joke" (or something to that effect), and the guy was too proud to go back and tell them that he was serious (which Spielberg knew would be the case).

Sidney Sheinberg. Under him, Universal sued Nintendo in famed Donkey Kong case
 
I think the POD is either in late 1985 or 1986. By then, most of Back to the Future is complete. Could affect the sequels though.
...what if (assuming the POD is "Back to the Future" related) it involves the ending?

Like, instead of the clocktower ending, they went with the nuclear test site ending?
 
...what if (assuming the POD is "Back to the Future" related) it involves the ending?

Like, instead of the clocktower ending, they went with the nuclear test site ending?

We could end up with Marty getting back to 1985 by climbing into a lead lined Refrigerator to survive the nuclear blast. :)
 
We could end up with Marty getting back to 1985 by climbing into a lead lined Refrigerator to survive the nuclear blast. :)
No, no, not that, LORD no... No, what I was referencing was the third draft of the film: where they hadn't quite yet dropped the idea of Marty using a nuclear test to power the trip home, but the time machine was the DeLorean.
 
First, congrats on the Turtledove, Brainbin.

Secondly, I have one question: Is there a Scarsdale Diet in TTL? I only ask because the man who wrote the Scarsdale Diet book, Dr. Herman Tarnower, was shot and killed by Jean Harris, his longtime girlfriend (and she served prison time for it).

Guess who became an advocate for Jean Harris to get leniency? None other than Barbara Walters (and that got Baba Wawa in trouble at ABC, since she was pestering the then-governor of New York, Mario Cuomo (the dad of the current governor, Andrew) over it, IIRC). In fact, when Jean Harris got out of prison, she interviewed Jean Harris (indeed, one of her Investigation Discovery series episodes was based on this case).
 
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