More To Come… Right After These Messages

The “present date” is July 31, 1985 (a Wednesday). In New York City, D.C. Fontana and David Gerrold are accepting the inaugural award for Outstanding Animated Program for The Animated Adventures of Star Trek, restoring the burgeoning franchise to Emmy glory for the first time in thirteen years. In more ways than one, the very existence of the Star Trek cartoon represents a return to form for the studio which owns the property, Desilu Productions. The “House that Paladin Built” is also being revisited in the form of a sequel series to Mission: Impossible, which unlike Star Trek is being produced by the original creator. In many years, the tenure of Lucille Ball as the sole chief executive at Desilu has come full circle, which also provides for fitting bookends to her career as she plans for retirement.

Given the cyclical nature of history, and the tendency for retro nostalgia to perpetually favour a floating point two decades behind the present, the mid-1980s bear a number of cultural resemblances to the mid-1960s, which are merely represented by Desilu Productions in miniature. For one thing, space fever - which peaked in the mid-1960s, leaving the Moonie Loonies to follow in its wake - is undergoing a revival due to the popular presidency of the “space cowboy” John Glenn, and his increased investment in a great many government agencies, including NASA. Only now, after several years of beefed-up budgets and careful planning, does it finally seem that the next step in the American space program finally coming to fruition. By now, the orbit of the Earth is littered with telecommunications satellites, providing the average television viewer with more viewing options than ever before, but this hasn’t stopped certain media conglomerates from attempting to eke out a place in the sun over-the-air.

The attempt by conglomerates to shake-up the long-stagnant state of network television makes more sense in the context of the situation recently facing the motion picture industry: the complete collapse of several key players at about the same time left a vacuum which had quickly been filled by a number of upstart studios, including CanWest (a conglomerate built on its success in Canadian network television attempting to break into American network television) and Lucasfilm, which emerged the victor in the Billion-Dollar Verdict, and is now so powerful as to successfully bypass any blackballing attempts by the other studios. With that in mind, it isn’t surprising that the studio is finally moving ahead with the long-awaited sequel to the highest-grossing film of all-time, Journey of the Force

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So, what can we expect next, and all on account of that wacky redhead?

We’ll be taking our final general overview of the last production and broadcast season: 1985-86.

There will be an in-depth look at the formation, development, and initial broadcasts of the long-fabled fourth broadcast television network in the United States - and how it (along with the other networks) faces growing competition in the changing face of Pay-TV.

We’ll revisit the final frontier for the final time, as the Glenn Administration’s plans for NASA, and for the American space program in general, in the 1980s are finally made clear - and how the other global space agencies intend to respond to Glenn’s vision.

In the final entry into Appendix B, we’ll take a whirlwind worldwide tour of the key nations of the Commonwealth, to see what further political developments await, and how the further development of trade links between have changed their economies over the years.

Our exploration of pop culture will conclude with the production and release of the Journey of the Force sequel.

And, finally, we’ll watch as the world reacts to That Wacky Redhead finally announcing her retirement, and as she attempts to put her house in order…

All this and more, coming up on… That Wacky Redhead!

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Well, that’s the last of those. Can you believe it? We’re entering the final cycle of That Wacky Redhead, after all these years. As usual, the list of people to thank for providing their help and advice has grown larger with each passing cycle, so I shall save my acknowledgements until the very end. With that, I thank you all for reading, and for your comments, praise and criticism alike. I will of course be getting back to you regarding your continued thoughts on my latest update - and your other questions and concerns - in short order. Until then!
 
Was Robert F. Kennedy's assassination butterflied?

No. He was assassinated as OTL.

However, Humphrey beat Nixon in '68 due to Nixon's lack of appearance on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In! Although Humphrey never underwent any Watergates, his decaying health and lame-duck presidency made his administration unpopular in its late years.
 
I wonder what the culture of journalism is like at this point. I imagine that in a world without Watergate, people are far more trusting of authorities and therefore journalism would be more "gentlemanly".
 
Well! :eek: Every time I thought the thread had died down enough for me to finally get to replying, there was another burst of activity, but now the flood of replies finally seems to have ebbed. Thank you all for your continued interest in this timeline, even as it (finally!) begins to come to an end :) And now for my responses to your (many!) replies!

A film based on the Mutiny of the Bounty seems interesting.
That's what they thought in 1935, at least. And in 1962. And in 1984, IOTL. It's just one of those stories with lasting appeal.

Danderns said:
Kirk Allen seems like he could live up to Marlon Brando. :p
Ouch! What did Kirk Allen ever do to you? He's actually a much better actor than Marlon Brando. (Then again, so are most people.)

Oh, sorry. What is Kirk Allen like personally? Just wondering.
He maintains a public persona not unlike that of his one-time screen "father", Jimmy Stewart (a man he grew up idolizing), although politically he's more liberal - though certainly not as liberal as many Hollywood celebrities (including his OTL counterpart, Christopher Reeve). He's been linked to pretty much every hot young actress in Hollywood, but he has yet to settle down.

Nice update Brainbin!
Thank you, Professor! :)

The Professor said:
I did like the reference to my alma mater UEA :D. Did you know one of the campus residential units was based on a Swedish open prison?
Of course the campus was beautiful on sunny days. This being England and East Anglia of course...
They still have the student newspaper Concrete I believe.
I had no clue you were an alumnus! How delightful! I chose UEA as a filming location from a list of British brutalist structures, because it seemed a reasonable choice for the time and place.

That was one huge, but fantastic update!
Thank you, Ogrebear! :)

Ogrebear said:
I guess "Raise the Titanic' remains only a bestseller in this world, and not tainted by its movie! Shame to lose the John Barry soundtrack, but I'm sure he's doing fine in this timeline!
John Barry still scores James Bond films ITTL, among other projects, so he still gets plenty of work ;)

I found the source of my confusion!
The Journey of the Force post says Spielberg directed Moonraker:

While the Moonraker post itself says it was Guy Hamilton:

So should I consider the Moonraker post itself to take priority, with the mention in the JotF post being a legacy of a previous draft?
First of all, Roger Redux, thank you for catching this continuity error! Unless and until I write a revised version of this TL (a That Wacky Redhead Mark II, which is far, far more likely than a sequel), my Official Policy with Regard to Continuity Errors is "anti-Lucasian": Wherever there is contradicting information in the narrative, the earliest instance shall prevail over any later ones.

As a result, Guy Hamilton directed Moonraker, not Steven Spielberg.

Also, Jon Voight starred as Hooper in Jaws, not Jeff Bridges. (I'm really annoyed I didn't catch that one looking back. And a shame, since I thought his casting really tied the update together.)

Expect these corrections to come into force in the near future.


My pleasure. Have a list of Best Picture winners from 1980-1985?

1980: Raging Bull (also Best Director for Martin Scorsese and Best Actor for Robert De Niro as Jake LaMotta)
1981: Reds (also Best Director for Warren Beatty)
1982: Gandhi (also Best Director for Richard Attenborough)
1983: The Mercury Seven (also Best Actor for Ed Harris as John Glenn) - note that the title was changed for the film adaptation (from Seven Up) after a lawsuit was threatened by - well, take a guess.
1984: Prepare for War (also Best Director for Steven Spielberg)

Sorry, the winner for 1985 (announced in early 1986) shall not be revealed at this juncture.

Haven't commented for a while so just to say I like a lot how you took The Black Adder in a a dramatic direction and the discussion of game shows. And I went to Alnwick Castle not long ago: I can report that the Percy family has a massive flatscreen TV in their library, so I wonder if they watch the films and TV series using their home as a setting...
Checking online photographs of the interiors, I must say they look much more lavish and modern than the exterior. I suppose that's to be expected, since the castle still functions as a residence, and that the Percys are indeed a ducal family, who obviously remain very wealthy (worth 315 million pounds as of 2011). I like to imagine that they're very aware of their family's long and storied history; they probably watch all of the media depicting the Percys as featured characters on a continuous loop :p I hope against hope that they get together every now and again with the Howards, the Paulets, the Greys, the Stanleys, and the Seymours, and that they all wax nostalgic about all the crazy hijinks their ancestors got up to in the 16th century :D

Thande said:
The name changes for the quiz shows sometimes have significance behind them - e.g. "Family Feud" was considered a misleading title because "feud" has stronger connotations in the UK. People seeing that title would probably expect a Jeremy Kyle type show with estranged family members beating each other up.
I take it that he's the British equivalent of Jerry Springer?
Kind of, but more low-rent and worse.
:eek: H..How is that even possible?! :eek:
I'm inclined to agree with Roger Redux here, the very notion that Jeremy Kyle's "guests" are appreciably lower-rent than those of Jerry Springer is frankly inconceivable to me :eek:

Inasmuch as Kubrick's Clockwork Orange doesn't get made, as its TTL equivalent seems to be 1984, I wonder if someone else might make an adaptation of the book, if it even exists. Perhaps you could have Paul Verhoeven do it, or suchlike. That sounds legendary.
I agree that Paul Verhoeven probably could pull off an adaptation of A Clockwork Orange with sufficient style and social commentary (albeit his film would be bludgeoning, whereas Kubrick was more incisive), but I'm really not sure how he'd get the opportunity to do so. Don't forget, IOTL he did not leave the Netherlands until after 1983, and he may never do so ITTL.

The publication of the novel was in 1962, five years before the POD, so it still exists.
Indeed, someone will probably direct the film at some point ITTL - it just wouldn't be Kubrick.

I was also thinking about Watchmen. Maybe Charlton doesn't even get bought by DC ITTL, which butterflies it all away.

Eh, Charlton wasn't doing so hot after their 60's heyday, and I guessing, with Gold Key taking the license business which Charlton jumped on in the late 70's, they'd probably still go out of business. And if Dick Giodario was still editor, he would still advise to buy it (he got his start in Charlton in the 60's.)

I had this whole synopsis of Watchmen for the Redhead universe in my head, with the Charlton heroes in mind.

Hrm. In general, comics have been a bit ignored, haven't they? What about, oh, I don't know, Maus for instance?

Probably the best explanation is that, from what I know, Brainbin doesn't read many comics himself. It's hard for him to write what he doesn't know, and suggestions help. ;)

One thing about Watchmen is that from what I know, it's very heavily inspired by the Nixon years, [verboten], and then the post-60s distrust of the system in general. I'm a little curious about how you see something like Watchmen playing out given that a lot of that is butterflied.
In essence, e of pi has it. I don't know a great deal about comic books, and I've never had much interest in writing about them. (Popular music is the other major facet of pop culture this timeline hasn't covered in much detail.) I'm certainly open to suggestions and I very much appreciate yours, although I can't promise I'll implement them, especially at this very late stage of the game. This TL does have narrative threads running through it, and pretty much every update from here on out is devoted to concluding what I've already been setting up; introducing further new material would be tricky.

Oh yeah, another thought: Dune?
I've already written an awful lot about various science-fiction franchises, wouldn't you say? ;)

What has Oliver Stone been up to ITTL?
He's a screenwriter of some renown. Of course, his OTL breakthrough film as a director was about the overseas quagmire, and those movies don't do well at the box-office ITTL, so...

The beginning of the end....
https://youtu.be/7aiGSbSp3GE
I see your Verve, and I raise you one Vitamin C.

That still gives me chills. Her entire appearance that night was incredible. Has there ever been a better guest in the history of late night? She earned that Emmy!

(And yes, look at who Johnny's other guest that night was. What a journey this has been.)

A 1968 performance of a song called "Those Were The Days"? I think I can meet you halfway on that :cool:

As long as we're into the final cycle, anyone feel up to a second of this fabulous TL for this year's Turtledoves?
Thank you very much, e of pi! :eek: (And thank you, Mr. E, for seconding the nomination.) To think, this'll be the final year we're in competition... :(

Was Robert F. Kennedy's assassination butterflied?
No. He was assassinated as OTL.
Indeed he was - thank you for fielding that question, David :)

I wonder what the culture of journalism is like at this point. I imagine that in a world without Watergate, people are far more trusting of authorities and therefore journalism would be more "gentlemanly".
Although we have outliers such as the gonzo journalism movement of the early-1970s (which, as previously mentioned, remains relatively fringe and obscure ITTL, barring its influences on certain cult filmmakers of the 1980s), mainstream journalism will remain relatively gentlemanly until the Reagan administration, when the Fairness Doctrine is repealed. So in other words, only for a few extra years.

Can't believe this has gone on for so long.

I can, it's brilliant :cool:
Sometimes it seems like I started writing this just yesterday (and I can't even remember how long I was bouncing the idea around in my head before I decided to post it on top of that, I know it had been months if not years), and other times it seems like it's been much longer than even the four years I've been writing so far. Time can be a fickle mistress. Of course, you've been part of this journey for a very long time, Professor! Your first reply was on page 3, making you one of the longest-lasting active commenters to this thread! So many thanks for your enduring loyalty :)
 
Although we have outliers such as the gonzo journalism movement of the early-1970s (which, as previously mentioned, remains relatively fringe and obscure ITTL, barring its influences on certain cult filmmakers of the 1980s), mainstream journalism will remain relatively gentlemanly until the Reagan administration, when the Fairness Doctrine is repealed. So in other words, only for a few extra years.

Even so, I imagine that America and the world is still in the "Age of Innocence", as without Watergate, there would be no Church Committee (which revealed the "Family Jewels" of the CIA). As a result, I imagine that intelligence agencies in popular fiction are still the "good guys" and never left the James Bond/ Man From U.N.C.L.E era. In addition, Mrs. T never took power in Britain. Therefore, would her anti-"elitist" allies like Rubert Murdoch ever gain influence?
 
W

In essence, e of pi has it. I don't know a great deal about comic books, and I've never had much interest in writing about them. (Popular music is the other major facet of pop culture this timeline hasn't covered in much detail.) I'm certainly open to suggestions and I very much appreciate yours, although I can't promise I'll implement them, especially at this very late stage of the game. This TL does have narrative threads running through it, and pretty much every update from here on out is devoted to concluding what I've already been setting up; introducing further new material would be tricky.

I sent someone else ( I admit, you are somewhat intimidating, and I am afraid to send it to you directly), that synopsis of Watchmen, and I was thinking of writing a comic update around it myself, so you wouldn't have to . I have to consult a couple of people, but I might be able to write it soon.

In fact, I had some ideas for heroes in a half shell...
 
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This is truly one of the gems of the board, Brainbin. Will you do something in a similar vein? (and you can't use the 40s! I still have dibs on then! I'll do a Golden Age reboot, I swear! :D)
 
First things first: thank you all so much for over 1,250,000 views! :eek:

Even so, I imagine that America and the world is still in the "Age of Innocence", as without Watergate, there would be no Church Committee (which revealed the "Family Jewels" of the CIA). As a result, I imagine that intelligence agencies in popular fiction are still the "good guys" and never left the James Bond/ Man From U.N.C.L.E era. In addition, Mrs. T never took power in Britain. Therefore, would her anti-"elitist" allies like Rubert Murdoch ever gain influence?
Don't forget, the CIA running amok during the Humphrey administration (including, most notably, in Cyprus) did much to tarnish their reputation in the 1970s.

As for the UK, the dominant ideology among the Tories remains One Nation Conservatism. Populism remains more the province of the Labour Party, and schismatic factions therefrom.

I sent someone else ( I admit, you are somewhat intimidating, and I am afraid to send it to you directly), that synopsis of Watchmen, and I was thinking of writing a comic update around it myself, so you wouldn't have to . I have to consult a couple of people, but I might be able to write it soon.

In fact, I had some ideas for heroes in a half shell...
I'm flattered that you would find me at all intimidating :eek: Be forewarned that I probably won't elevate your post to canonical status. It's nothing personal; I'm just a control freak that way ;)

Will you start another culture TL after That Wacky Redhead is over?
Technically I'm already writing another culture TL, albeit one which is on indefinite hiatus. I really ought to return to that at some point.

This is truly one of the gems of the board, Brainbin. Will you do something in a similar vein? (and you can't use the 40s! I still have dibs on then! I'll do a Golden Age reboot, I swear! :D)
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 ;)

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.)

Wait! Who won Best Picture in 1979?
*Norma Rae. Perfect opportunity for Hollywood to take a stand against that evil union-buster Reagan by awarding a movie about the importance of labour unions.

Well, I would've watched that but...
:(:mad:
Unfortunately, that appears to be the only recording of the 1968 pilot on YouTube. Sorry about that :( (There are a number of uploads of the 1969 pilot, oddly.)

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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?

Also, might any of this forum's prominent vexillologists be readers of this thread, by any chance? I had a few ideas for flags of the fictional countries featured in Prepare for War, however my art skills being sorely lacking has forced me to canvass the thread for assistance. Feel free to reply or send me a PM if you're willing to collaborate with me and help to bring the flags to life! :)
 
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