Greg responds...

Are we assuming I get paid to do the Gargoyles series or does this preposterous hypothetical assume I have to work for free?

If the latter, than I'm afraid I'd HAVE to take the money.

If the former, well, then I'd wind up doing okay financially, and I'd much rather do the series.

Greg responds...

First off, this isn't my website. Station 8 belongs to Gorebash. He's generously created this sub-site for me to answer your questions.

I don't know anything about the video clips, so you should address that question to him -- assuming it isn't moot 18 months after you asked it.

Greg responds...

Uh... beyond the fact that he's a human being and we are all filled with these things, at least to some extent...

And having said that, I wouldn't say that those are Macbeth's foremost qualities. (At least not in the Gargoyle Universe.) So how hard should I work to offer you proof?

I'm not sure I understand the question.

What proof do you require?

Greg responds...

Nope.

Greg responds...

Nope. Sorry.

I'd try e-bay or one of the dealer's tables at the GATHERING 2003. For more info, check out...

http://gathering.gargoyles-fans.org

Greg responds...

Heard from whom?

Anyway, the answer is Goliath's generation. And, btw, the spelling I've chosen is Hyppolyta.

Hudson does have a biological child that hatched in 978. I'm referring to her in my notes as "True". (I can't remember if I've mentioned her before to anyone but Todd.)

Greg responds...

1a. Well, I could say, "Why not?" But the not-quite-as-short answer had to do with their own banishment from the island by Oberon. By becoming "servants" to the Archmage, it enabled them to embark on the island at his command. Otherwise, how do they attack the Magus, et al, when they're forbidden to set foot on the island. There's also a longer answer and a very long answer, but I'm not getting into those now.

1b. They didn't.

1c. They have three plans in play and removing the clan is only a part of each.

2. Chalk it up, as he did, to recent inexperience at dealing with mortals.

3. I believe he did.

3a. That's a big assumption. The Island didn't bring the travellers back. To return to Avalon, the travellers use a spell. In any case, what the island wants and needs, doesn't change the fact that the island is soaked in magical energy, which Oberon is a master at utilizing.

Greg responds...

I don't think that's true.

They cancelled the show for a number of reasons which I have outlined in great detail here:

http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/faq/realworld.htm

You could have found this by checking the ASK GREG FAQ, btw.

Greg responds...

Hudson has had three biological children, if that's what you're getting at, including Broadway.

But you're thinking like a human. Hudson has many rookery children and grandchildren, including Brooklyn, Lexington, Broadway and Angela.

Greg responds...

I do think she would have come to see them, to talk about the crisis in general. I don't know that they would have discussed the kiss. I don't know what she would have revealed about her own feelings. But I tend to think -- very little. It's just not her -- guarded, pretend to be invulnerable -- way.

Anyhow, it's moot.

Greg responds...

I have written the first draft of a novella. I'm about halfway through the second draft, though to be honest, I haven't worked on it in almost a year.

I have started a number of other novels, without finishing them. It's an unfortunate fact that I have trouble motivating myself without an externally enforced deadline.

I would absolutely LOVE to write a Gargoyles Novel. A series of them, actually. I've got a number of stories in mind. All I need is an interested publisher. I can't justify writing a book based on a property I don't own without one.

Greg responds...

A Ragnarok happenned. Maybe not THE Ragnarok.

Greg responds...

I don't think they are currently organized that way at this time. Ironically, by default, the answer might be Maggie. But I don't think it's formalized.

Greg responds...

I'm not answering this at this time.

Greg responds...

I certainly think she's a tragic figure... the fact that she's her own worst enemy not-withstanding.

Greg responds...

Some of each.

Why would he?

Some of them started to come true before the end of the second season. The birth of Alexander Fox Xanatos, for example. The destruction of the Clock Tower.

Greg responds...

I don't know.

Greg responds...

Gargoyles aren't too big on naming things. But, yeah, probably.

Greg responds...

Just cuz you didn't see her, doesn't mean she wasn't there.

Also, keep in mind that in those days, Demona was allied with Xanatos.

Greg responds...

It's been bugging you, but you chose not to check the archives for the answer. Instead you posted a question that I didn't get to for a year and a half.

Couldn't have been bugging you too much.

Within a generation, you're not going to get anyone mating with their biological brothers or sisters, because they don't have any among their rookery siblings. First Cousins are a possibility, I suppose. I have posited in the past that smell creates a natural anti-disposition for a gargoyle choosing a mate that he or she is too closely related to.

Greg responds...

Not particularly. I think of them as more solid than that. But I'm not sure even they know what their true forms are.

Greg responds...

Huh?

If I'm getting your drift, the answer, I guess, is both.

Mostly, Oberon & Co. just were who they were, and various humans began to treat or worship them as gods.

Occasionally, I think it's possible that a culture had a god or two that one of the Children posed as.

Greg responds...

I don't have a quota in mind. But I guess the answer is both.

Certainly, it was a "Return of the King" story set in the present of the Gargoyles Universe.

But I think one of the strengths of the Gargoyles Universe is its interconnectivity. So elements, like the Illuminati, the Gargoyles and Macbeth would have definitely entered into stories of the Questing Beast and the Holy Grail, and vice versa, etc.

Greg responds...

Celebrity Hockey.

The B-Players.

Greg responds...

Fresh eggs?

Greg responds...

How about in 2003?

Yes, I'd imagine she's still a cop. Hopefully, by now she's been promoted a grade or two. But I don't have a context to say how high.

Greg responds...

I don't remember how Anton pronounced it?

I'm fine with either.

Greg responds...

Robert,

I'm sure that Touchstone is not interested (for legal reasons) in reading an unsolicited submission. Sorry.

But also a little advice...

You're post above is just chock full of typos and more. Bad spelling. Bad grammar. Bad punctuation.

Any teacher or writer should know that if you're looking for ANY work -- but particularly work as a writer (even if it is just on a whim) you need to proofread ruthlessly.

How could I or anyone recommend you to Touchstone based on the above?

I know that sounds harsh, but it's meant to help you, for future reference.

Greg responds...

<sigh> I know I've answered these before. Did you even skim the Wyvern archive before posting questions that I wouldn't get to for over a year?

1. It is VERY loosely based -- at least in my mind on Tintagel.

2. The west coast of Scotland.

Greg responds...

Even odds.

(Although I can't imagine she hasn't encountered far weirder/scarier Trek fans than our Aaron -- who still reminds me of a young Tom McMinn.)

Greg responds...

Long term, perhaps.

Short term, no. I've inquired and they're not currently interested. Actually, the ABC Family guys were briefly interested in BAD GUYS. But their Disney Channel bosses put the kibosh on it.

Greg responds...

Well, I hope you've been able to get some sleep since November 9, 2001...

I guess, and I'm not trying to be a smart-ass here, I'm not sure how you're defining "anthropomorphic personifications"? How is that different from, say, Anansi or The Stone of Destiny?

Anansi is definitely a "Child of Oberon." Not literally his kid, but one of his race. (Note: he's not Fae, which is not a term from the series. I view the Fae as a subset of the Children. Same with the Norse Pantheon and the Egyptian Pantheon, etc.)

Whereas, the Stone of Destiny is either an enchanted object or a Child of Oberon. I've intentionally left that vague for now.

As you've seen, the New Olympians are, strictly speaking, not Children of Oberon, though they are descended from them. Do they count as anthromorphic personifications?

So, I'm not trying to dodge the answer. I just honestly don't know how to define your terms.

Greg responds...

I'm going to leave that to your interpretation. Demona certainly seems to believe that she knows every remaining gargoyle, PERIOD.

But she could be (a) mistaken or (b) lying. She's certainly not above either possibility.

Greg responds...

1. Yes.
2. Yes.
3. Yes.
4. Probably.
5. The group that was the "last of their kind" (which also turned out not to be true) in "Awakening" were the six survivors who woke up in Manhattan in 1994. Nobody in 994 ever said that the Wyvern clan were the last of their kind.

And as with most things, given enough episodes I would have eventually dealt with just about EVERYTHING.

Greg responds...

Well, frankly, the real reason is that we're generally not allowed to use real world weapons except at great discretion. Shooting even a magical being up -- one who'd be vulnerable to bullets -- would definitely not get past S&P. No way.

I think we justify this in the show by presenting our cast with even more impressive weapons. And by demonstrating their limits. An iron harpoon through the chest weakened but didn't kill him. The bullets would have hurt certainly, but might have ultimately done even less damage. Who knows?

Greg responds...

Well, I haven't seen most of those Eddie Murphy movies where he does that, so it's not really fair for me to comment. A lot depends on tone. But it seems to me that there's a certain amount of winking at the audience implied at the very least. A certain complicity.

Greg responds...

C.C.H. Pounder (who, I believe is a regular on 'The Shield') was Desdemona/Coldfire.

Xander Berkeley (who most recently was the belatedly noble boss on '24' who died saving Los Angeles from an atomic bomb) played Iago/Coldfire.

Greg responds...

Well, I was paid originally to write a treatment with Michael Reaves that Touchstone rejected. Michael's agent negotiated the co-producer credit and back-end fees, which I believe Touchstone agreed to, to a large extent, because having us on the project offered their division some protection and/or legitimacy vis-a-vis, Gary Krisel, my boss at the time at Walt Disney TV Animation. Gargoyles, being a WDTVA property, was in Gary's bailiwick. Gary pushed Michael and I on Touchstone. So we got our deal.

Then Gary left Disney. I do not think it's coincidental that right when Gary left, Michael and I were swept aside on the project. We were told that we'd be consulted, but in point of fact we never were. I developed a decent once-a-year phone relationship with some of the Touchstone execs, who would keep me posted on where things stood. But it never went beyond that. Michael and I were paid for the (unused) work we did. And should the movie go forward into production, we would get a second check -- for doing absolutely nothing.

We also are supposed to get a very small percentage of the "net" profits (as opposed to the "gross") which if you follow Hollywood at all, probably means nothing at all.

When you think about it, no money for no work seems fair.

Greg responds...

Well, here's the (abridged) history of the Gathering...

1997 - Fans got together and organized the first New York Gathering. Most of the work was done by Mae Li, who should be hailed by fandom as the woman who gave birth to our cons.

1998 - Out of the fist Gathering, a group of fans got together and organized the second New York Gathering.

1999 - Having completely exhausted the New York fandom, another group of fans got together and organized the Dallas Gathering.

2000 - Still another group of fans got together and organized the Orlando Gathering.

2001 - Survivors of the Dallas Gathering got together (with some fresh fan blood) and organized the Los Angeles Gathering.

2002 - Survivors of the Orlando Gathering got together (with some fresh fan blood) and organized the Williamsburg Gathering.

2003 - A new group of fans got together (with a few familiar faces) to organize this year's new New York Gathering. For info, check out http://gathering.gargoyles-fans.org .

2004 - A group of Canadian fans have gotten together and are already organizing next year's Gathering in Montreal.

2005 - Is up for grabs. As you can see from this history, there's no magic to it. Dedicated fans just decide to make it happen. In fact, it's a lot of hard work. But if you want a Gathering in Nebraska, organize a group of fans and put together a bid. You've got at least six to eight months to get your act together before next year's bidding process begins. Go for it.

As for attending before then... it's not necessarily as expensive and time-consuming as you may think. Look into cheap fares or ride sharing and/or room sharing. Just LOOK into it, before deciding it isn't possible. Give it a try. I guarantee you won't be sorry.

Greg responds...

I don't even remember what I was talking about.

And Planet Mertz sounds familiar, but I can't place it right now.

Greg responds...

1. Usually, I'd say. Almost always.

2. I'd think so.

3. I'd think so.

4. I'm guessing he's okay with it.

5. As far as I know they're flourishing.

Greg responds...

I don't know, because I've never watched Survivor, so I don't know what kind of personality tends to win. Demona is her own worst enemy, of course.

Greg responds...

Well, you're not counting Demona, of course.

Originally, we had two females. Dakota and Coco. Dakota evolved into Demona. Coco evolved into Broadway. At which point, to be honest about our cowardice, we didn't feel comfortable making our only positive female character overweight. In addition, there's a conventional wisdom -- which I don't subscribe to, but which influences my choices because so many in the industry DO subscribe to it -- that states that boys don't want female heroines in their boys action shows. Our primary target (not our only target) was boys 6-11 years old. No one wanted a female hero.

Of course, I love writing female heroes. They're easily my favorite. And I think properties like Buffy or Tomb Raider prove that I ain't wrong about the appeal to both gals and guys.

But, I don't always have the courage of my convictions. Introducing Angela was, in part, a way to make up for a clear void in the original show.

Greg responds...

No argument.

Greg responds...

Not officially. But there may be other Canmores. And Fiona was retired by that time. Largely.

Greg responds...

Too arrogant even for me.

Greg responds...

No. I didn't have a t.v. in college -- and thus there's a four year gap in my otherwise copious television knowledge.

Of course, I didn't have a computer until the last semester of my senior year. And I hated typing before computers. I wrote everything long hand and then typed it up only when I was confident that I didn't want to make any changes. So I typed very little. And the internet? Forgeddaboudit. Didn't exist -- at least not to my knowledge.

Also, I was an English Major with an emphasis in Fiction Writing, so I had plenty of writing to do for classes. And starting in my sophomore year, I was already writing professionally for DC Comics. So any non-school writing at that time, tended toward paid work, not fanfic.

Besides, the whole concept of fanfic didn't really exist for me until after the Garg fans told me about it.

I guess I did right a King Lear fanfic once -- as a term paper.

Greg responds...

I enjoyed it too.

But I'm still holding out for Katana.

Greg responds...

In my opinion, yes, Anastasia -- had she been in town, which is unlikely -- would have transformed. Of course, at will she could abandon her mortal (now gargoyle) form for and look however she wanted.

Greg responds...

I've never been a huge fan of clip shows -- which are absolutely NOT about writer (or any other staff member's) laziness. Rather they are a reflection of budgetary (and occasionally deadline) concerns. Clip shows are MUCH less expensive, for obvious reasons. And they can be put together, even with a framing sequence, much more rapidly than a typical episode.

I recall admiring some early year SIMPSONS clip shows, for being cleverer than most. And I actually think FRIENDS has done a half-decent job at taking a clip show and making it matter to the audience by tying the flashbacks to a character's important decision. But usually, I don't much care for clip shows. For example the STARSHIP clip shows all make me cringe, though I know that the people involved were working their hardest to make something worthwhile out of them. And the fact that some of my material was used in the clips is flattering, but doesn't actually make it work any better. Of course, I'm biased. Those clip shows on ROUGHNECKS were done to save money -- and they took the place of my last three episodes which would have concluded the series.

Like I said, just not a fan.