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DEFINITE UNCERTAINTY 2021-08 (Aug)

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EDWARD ASNER

So...

This is hard.

It's been a bit of a stressful weekend, as my father went into the hospital with chest pains. A stint that had been replaced last year had failed and was replaced again Saturday morning during an angioplasty. I've been concerned, worried. But the procedure seemed to go well, and he was set to go home today. We seemed to have dodged a bullet.

But there was a second gun.

I slept in today. I woke up to two pieces of news:

1. My dad was good. Solid. My sister picked him up at the hospital and took him straight to breakfast. (My mother was annoyed at not being included - but that's a whole other story.) He's home now. I've talked to him. He sounded cheerful. All good.

2. Ed Asner had passed away.

I spent most of the day doing laundry and other mundane tasks. Life goes on, right? It has to. But it's been difficult getting my head around the whole thing. I've gotten many calls and texts today, offering condolences as if I were part of the Asner family. Folks seem to know how close I felt to Ed. But I don't want to exaggerate. Ed was my friend. I hope he knew I was his, as well. But I haven't talked to him in at least a couple of years. (You can partially blame that on the pandemic, I suppose. There are a lot of people I've lost touch with. If anything, this is a reminder to GET in touch. And I'm going to make an effort to do that.) In any case, there are many, many people who knew Ed better than I did, who were closer to Ed than I was.

Nevertheless, at the risk of turning this post into my own self-aggrandizement, I am going to spend a few paragraphs here on the subject of the Ed Asner that I knew and loved.

I was a fan of Ed's long before I met him. Like many, many people, he first entered my awareness playing Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. (Later, I got a kick out of picking him out of reruns, where he usually played the heavy in such series as The Wild Wild West and others.) But as Lou, Ed was simply brilliant. One of the truly classic scenes in all of television is the scene in the TMTMS pilot, where Lou interviews Mary for a job. Do yourself a favor and view it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj286uBKCu0

That scene had a major effect on me, even seeing it as a kid.

Now, having just rewatched it, the genius of the writing and the two performances still knocks me out. But there was something else about Lou and Mary. Watching their interactions was a bit like watching my parents. The connection in my mind between Lou and my dad was especially strong.

Ed and my father were two Ashkenazi Jews from the midwest. My dad was from Chicago; Ed, from Kansas City. They were gruff AND loving. They even had mannerisms in common. There was much more, I'm sure, that they DIDN'T have in common. But something connected the two men in my mind. And, meanwhile, my admiration for Asner as a performer knew no bounds. When I saw him in the Lou Grant series, in Rich Man, Poor Man, in Roots, that admiration only increased. When I learned of his activism - and the price he paid for it - that admiration shot through the roof.

Years later, when we had begun pre-production on GARGOYLES, I thought of Ed Asner - or of Lou Grant, at least - as the inspiration for Hudson. In fact, when we held auditions for the role, I wrote at the bottom of the character description that "Hudson hates spunk." This was, of course, a variation on Lou's classic line from the above job interview scene. Now, to be clear, I never imagined we'd get Ed to play the role. I figured he was way too big a star for us to land. But low and behold, a few days later, Ed came in to audition for the part. Later, he told me that when he read the character description, he was initially thrilled. The "Hudson hates spunk" line made him feel like he was a lock to land the role. Then a couple minutes later, he thought that if he didn't land the role it would really be awful. But of course, he immediately understood the character and nailed his audition... only for Jamie Thomason and I to throw him a curveball, asking him to do it again in a Scottish accent. He nailed that, too.

Working with Ed was a joy. He was fun and funny and so supportive. In addition to playing Hudson (and Burbank and Jack Danforth/Dane) on Gargoyles, I also cast him as recurring characters on Max Steel (Chuck Marshak), 3x3 Eyes (Grandpa Ayanokoji), W.I.T.C.H. (Napoleon the talking cat), Young Justice (Kent Nelson) and Rain of the Ghosts (Joe Charone). When casting Peter Parker's late Uncle Ben in The Spectacular Spider-Man, Ed was the only person I ever considered. He always brought so much to each and every role.

And more than that he was a great friend to me. After the first season of Max Steel, when I couldn't find a job for over a year and thought I might have to give up on my writing career, Ed was there, offering me support. We had lunch at Musso & Frank's. He looked at pictures of my kids out of my wallet and told me to laminate them. He introduced me to his son, Matt Asner, a producer. He didn't allow me to wallow in self-pity or to badmouth guys who I believed had done me wrong. He just reassured me that I had ability and would find my way through. He was, in essence, my work dad.

So today, as you might imagine, has been complicated. My dad is home and healthy. And Ed is gone. I'm grateful and sorrowful. And struggling. But life goes on. It has to, right?

Finally, I'm going to quote Hudson from Gargoyles. In "The Price," an episode that spotlighted the character, Ed as Hudson told Xanatos: "A friendly word of advice: True immortality isn't about living forever, man. It's about what you do with the time you have. When all your scheming's done, what will be your legacy, Xanatos?"

I think we all know that Ed Asner did amazing things with the time he had. And though we'll miss him dearly, his legacy is clear and shining.


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KarrinBlue writes...

So, since the askbox is closing soon to get a chance to catch up, I thought I'd finally send in an ask about one of my favorite bits of the new season - Terra's plotline. I'd been hoping to see a Young Justice take on Terra since s2, and when we started seeing the first trailers of the team going to Markovia, I got even more excited. And I was not disappointed! So often Terra is a flat character, a betrayer, a monster, a madwoman - if there's any sympathy towards her, it's usually in a vague tragic backstory of abandonment, or her having a moment of realization before the end and taking Slade down with her (and often with an implication that Slade is the more reasonable, understandable one in the equation.) It was so refreshing to see a take on her that remembered she had been a child, was [i]still[/i] young, and being manipulated and abused by a much older adult - and that made that abuse and manipulation [i]not[/i] a death sentence. Terra doesn't die, she lives, she chooses to face justice - and, in a note I'm particularly fond of, she does all of this not because she's fallen in love with a heroic boy, but because of her platonic and familial bonds - with Artemis, with her siblings, and with Halo. Seeing her finally get to turn her back on Slade, come clean, and [i]live[/i] made the entire finale for me. So thank you for that, and now some questions about Tara Markov herself:

1) Why did Bedlam originally have her kidnapped, then tarred, then sold off? Had Slade's 'rescue' of her been a scheme between those two?
2) How much time passed between her original kidnapping, tarring, and the 'rescue'?
3) Tara can be extremely reticent in the show, often holding back in large conversations (though her glances around, gestures, and expressions have been very interesting to keep an eye out for on my rewatches). When she chooses to speak she's generally very forthright and direct, even if she's not sparing with her words. How did you decide on this pattern for her, and how did you decide on when she'd speak up and when she'd hold back?
4) Tara seemed very reluctant to tell Slade when Gregor was visiting them in America - had she expected the coup to take place, and if so, how did she expect it to end? Once Slade ordered her to kill Gar, what had she thought would happen afterwards?
5) In the ending montage, we see Tara and Halo attending Happy Harbor High, after her trial at the Hague. Even if Snapper Carr smoothed over any legal issues, how did the other students, teachers, and parents react to finding out that a foreign princess assassin had been attending, and would continue to attend, public high school in Rhode Island?

Greg responds...

1. DeLamb had learned he was a meta-human and wanted to see if his niece was, too.

1a. In essence, yes.

2. Tara was abducted on July 28th, of Team Year Six. She was meta-activated in early August of that year, and "rescued" by Deathstroke in Early September.

3. It seemed to work for someone who was keeping secrets.

4. Tara was conflicted - and so turned around that the notion of consequences had been blurred to non-existent in her mind.

5. It may have been overshadowed by Fred Bugg revealing himself as Forager. But basically, having two Outsiders at the school was largely applauded by the student population. Some teachers and parents may have been more reticent, but there wasn't any significant protest...

REALLY GLAD OUR VERSION OF TERRA WORKED FOR YOU! I MEAN IT!

Response recorded on August 26, 2021

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Joshua Skaug writes...

Long time Gargoyles Fan, just started rewatching the series on Disney+

I was wondering where Elisa’s Cat, Cagney got its name?

Would she have named him (is it a him), after actor Jimmy Cagney, or more likely after fellow police-woman character, Chris Cagney, from Cagney and Lacey?

Greg responds...

A little of Column A. A little of Column B.

Response recorded on August 26, 2021

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Greg Bishansky writes...

Hmm, I haven't asked a question here in a while. So I figured I'd get one in before the temporary close.

Here's one for the timeline. Since I last asked, there have been two Radio Plays at CONvergence. I've watched them both on YouTube and loved them. Abby's singing voice as Miss Martian really impressed me, and Marina as Demona playing almost every character on her IMDB from Queen Bee to Hurrican Julia to Deanna Troi etc amused me greatly. And nobody but the Queen of the Impact Grunt herself could earn a Stunt-Grunter. ;)

Since we've had dates for every other Radio Play...

1. What happened in the Gargoyles Universe on July 2nd, 2016?

2. What happened in the Gargoyles Universe on July 7th, 2018?

I miss the Radio Plays and I cannot wait to attend and hopefully participate in one again.

Greg responds...

I miss conventions in general, and CONvergence specifically.

Anyway...

1. No spoilers.

2. No spoilers.

Response recorded on August 26, 2021

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Kat writes...

Hey! I'm a recent gargoyles fan (and am currently obsessed), and I actually have a couple of questions about the comics.
1) If you were to ever adapt the comics into a cartoon or a comic dub/radio play, for the comic exclusive gargoyles, like Katana and Gnash, who would your dream cast be for their voices?
2) Also, have you ever thought about adding onto the comic series after "Phoenix", or do you feel like the Clan Building arch is good where it was left and it would be good to move on to a new chapter of the Gargoyles saga?

Greg responds...

1. I've learned not to answer that in advance of actual casting. You can't always get the person you're thinking of, and I prefer not to make the actor who actually helps bring the character to life to feel like a second choice.

2. I've been DYING to make more Gargoyles comics and have been trying to sell Disney on the idea ever since.

Response recorded on August 26, 2021

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Tengu Madame writes...

This question isn't for Greg, but if he can please pass this on to Edmund Tsabard?

Oh, Edmund... when will you bring back Last Tengu In Paris?

Greg responds...

Edmund Tsabard was one of the few human beings, EVER, who actually LOST MONEY doing porn. Until or unless he can find a way to reliably monetize his work at Blue Mug Productions... well, let's just say Tsabard isn't altruistic.

Response recorded on August 26, 2021

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M. writes...

Hi Greg. I have a few questions:
1) Why was Jade so absent in season 3?
2) Was there any problem with Kelly Hu?
And since in episode 325 Lian said something like "we need to find Cheshire for Daddy" (if I'm not mistaken):
3) Does Lian know that Cheshire is her mom?
4) In fact, does she even know or remember who her mom is?
And last but not least:
5) Did Will actually believe what Jade said about being a soccer mom and all that?

Greg responds...

1. Was she? Did she get significantly more time in Seasons One and Two? If so, I guess the answer is that story drives the use of our characters, as always.

2. No. She was great, as always.

3. Yep.

4. Yep.

5. Believe? I don't understand.

Response recorded on August 26, 2021

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Marvelman writes...

Hi Greg. There are a few things related to the anti-life equation that I am still unclear on following season three.

1)What was the original purpose of Granny's machine? I ask because it seems to me the only thing it was good for was inflicting pain - without Halo to provide the anti-life equation.

2)I'm still not sure how Halo = the anti-life equation. Could you please try to explain it to me?

3)Thank-you for treating Kirby's anti-life equation seriously. In Kirby's fourth world mythology, the equation was something very specific. Some other depictions depict it very vaguely. You didn't. You did your homework. Thanks.

4)What did you think of the Hunger Dogs as an ending to Jack's Fourth World saga?

5)How are you?

Greg responds...

1. It created the ability to spread the Ghost Dimension ad infinitum.

2. Halo does not equal the anti-life equation. She's part of its mathematical formula. Watch the episode again. Granny spells it out mathematically with a lot of clarity.

3. We try.

4. I try to avoid offering up those kinds of reviews on DC Comics stuff, as I don't want people to tie my opinions to what may or may not happen on Young Justice.

5. Can't complain. (I mean I do complain all the time, but really I shouldn't.) I'm employed (at least through early November), and everyone in my family is healthy. So, really, I'm doing great. Thank you.

Response recorded on August 26, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

Hello. I'm the anonymous 7 posts back who asked about Icon not being at the big meetup in Nevermore, and I realized that I just missed his name in Guy's list. Whoops.

I'm also the anon who asked about the A-series designations between Tye Longshadow and Dolphin. As was the case with that question, I assume I'm gonna get a big old "SPOILER REQUEST" for most of this, but maybe you're in a sharing mood.

1. Did El Dorado and Cyborg receive B-series designations upon their joining the Outsiders?
2. On the Young Justice backpack that was given away at SDCC 2019, some characters had designations listed with their names. Should the ones not used in the show be considered canon? (I'm thinking specifically of the Z-series for "Batman, Inc." and Stone, Victor G-08.)
3. If Vic is G-08, and Halo is G-03... care to reveal who are G-04, G-05, G-06, and G-07? The only possible option I can come up with is Dr. Jace.
4. There are three Z-series designations missing on said bag (Z-03, Z-04, and Z-06). Should I assume they are Plastic Man, Hardware, and Metamorpho (in that order or another)?
5. Long shot time. Will you reveal the League designations between Aquaman 27 and Steel 36?

Thanks for your time!

Greg responds...

1. Yep.

2. They are accurate (if now, as of the end of Season Three, outdated).

3. No spoilers.

4. No spoilers (but you're two-thirds right).

5. Nope.

Response recorded on August 26, 2021

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aggiefrogger writes...

Dear Mr. Weisman,

First off, big fan of Gargoyles, even though I was born after the show ended. I only have one question I would like to ask you, if that's alright:

1. Is there an official backstory for Jeffrey Robbins? I wrote a fanfiction featuring him, and couldn't find an official backstory to him from before the start of the show, so I made one up about him and his family. However, I was wondering if there was an actual timeline or something with his history.

That's basically all I have to say. Have a great day, and thank you again for your time!

Greg responds...

I'm not sure what you mean by "official backstory". We know he served in Vietnam and was blinded there, teaching himself to read braille and becoming a successful novelist after. Anything beyond that (or other details already revealed in the series) is basically a spoiler.

Response recorded on August 26, 2021

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Theodore writes...

Well I don't think my questions are very interesting but I'm curious, so:

1 - What are the names of Arsenal's parents? And how did they die?

2 - What is the name of Zatanna's mother? And how did she die?

3 - What are the names of Rocket's parents and husband?

4 - What are the names of M'gann M'orzz's parents?

Greg responds...

Some of this stuff you can probably look up in old comics, but otherwise, I'm just going to lay out a big NO SPOILERS to all of this.

Response recorded on August 26, 2021

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FallenLegend writes...

Hey greg, I have a question Regarding time skips. I'm not complaining, just worried. The skips are fine if Young Justice remains as the only earth 16 show, but if any spin offs get made, don't you think we are missing a lot of content and getting a lot of spoilers?

As a fan of your work I've noticed that you tend to avoid making characters immortal. In one answer you said that even the third race of Gargoyles might just be extremely long lived. And you removed Wonder Woman's immortality outside of Themiscyra.

So I'm guessing you are planing to long term retire some characters.

If you got hired to write a Captain Marvel (Shazam) show, well Billy is 18 by season 3, so we basically missed all of his childhood adventures. He is traditionally a kid, isn't he?

If you got hired to do a Superman tv series, and you started from the beginning, we already know he ends up with Lois and even has a son with her up until season 3, so that throws out any tension out of the window.

This applies to all characters, introduced in season 1,2, and 3 that could get spinoffs I think. You would need to start early in their timelines (with people entering spoiled from their fates), or start late Like billy being 18 ( and miss the charm of a kid superhero that made him famous)

Not complaining, just worried. Do you have any contingency for that?

Greg responds...

Your question is so EXTREMELY hypothetical that I just can't worry about it. Brandon and I need to make the best version of Young Justice that we can make. In the extremely unlikely event that somewhere down the line WB asks for an Earth-16 spinoff, we'll deal with that then.

Response recorded on August 26, 2021

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FallenLegend writes...

Hey Greg I got a question regarding Batman on earth 16.

I know the real-life answer is just that they are different characters and giving superpowers to Batman doesn't fit him, but, still, I've always wondered why no empowering entity ever chose Bruce Wayne as a champion.

Say Why didn't SHAZAM chose Bruce Wayne Over Billy? Bruce already had the training, maturity, and skills, and instead, he decided to empower an orphan kid.

Same for other people giving powers like the guardians of the universe (or is it the ring that chooses?) going over people like Guy over Bruce.

Have you thought of an explanation for that?

Greg responds...

I could say that Billy has a purity of heart that Bruce doesn't have. That Hal, John and Guy have a greater ability to overcome fear with willpower. But really, the premise of the question doesn't work for me. There are billions of people on Earth. Why assume that Bruce is the be-all/end-all of humanity?

Response recorded on August 26, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

1) So are the titles of the series just meant to be meaningful? Like for example, in Young Justice: Outsiders, Beast Boy's team is called "The Outsiders" even though Black Lightning, Halo, and Geo-Force are the original Outsiders.

2) Is it like a metaphorical title about characters feeling like outsiders?

Greg responds...

1. I'm not sure I understand the question. The Outsiders from the comics are an influence, but this is Earth-16 continuity. The Outsiders refer to a state of mind, a social phenomenon and, ultimately, a new team of heroes, founded by Beast Boy.

2. That's part of it.

Response recorded on August 26, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

In the Young justice episode Overwhelmed when Super boy took Forager to Geranium city some thoughts crossed my mind 1. What do Benny, Erin, Kraig, and Karen all do for a living in geranium city? 2. What do each of the human disguises of the aforementioned Genomorphs look like? 3. Do thay each use the real names when outsiders are in town or fake names like Dubbilex does? 4. Are there any other secret Genomorph cities besides Geranium city?

Greg responds...

1. No spoilers.

2. No spoilers. For now, what you see is what you get.

3. They use their real first names and have adopted surnames.

4. Not at this time.

Response recorded on August 26, 2021

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Abdullah Khan writes...

Hey Greg,
Q1)I wanted to ask regarding the castings for Young Justice Outsiders, How did you and the crew decide to give the roles of Geo-Force, Terra, Halo, Forager,Cyborg and Darkseid to Troy Baker,Tara Strong,Zehra Fazal,Jason Spisak, Zeno Robinson and Michael Leon Wooley?
Q2)And for replacments decide on David Kaye and Greg Cipes to be Vandal Savage and Beast Boy, i know regarding Greg as Beast Boy u did not cast him in the initially because u did not want any Teen Titans reprisals at the time so what change your mind instead of picking another actor because Logan Grove was unavailable for S3?

Greg responds...

Geo-Force - Brandon had worked with Troy Baker before and knew he was a good candidate to play Geo-Force/Brion Markov. We did have him audition (against no competition) just to confirm he could do the Eastern European accent without it sliding into Boris Badenov territory. He could. So we cast him. And he's been great as Brion and other characters ever since.

Terra - We held auditions for Terra/Tara Markov, and Tara Strong just nailed it.

Halo - I knew I wanted to cast Zehra Fazal as Halo / Violet Harper / Gabrielle Daou, and basically wrote the part with her in mind. Brandon and Jamie and I went to see her in a stage play, where she played multiple roles, so that they could confirm just how great and versatile she was.

Forager - With Wally West largely out of the picture, we knew we wanted to find something else to keep Jason Spisak in our cast. Brandon thought Forager would be a good bet and talked about the character with Jason, who loved the idea. We hired him without any try-out, and he was instantly great.

Cyborg - We held auditions for Victor Stone/Cyborg under the false flag of a pretend show with a fake character name. Zeno Robinson was our clear favorite for the role. We brought him in for a callback (with no competition), mostly to see if he had the versatility to play any other roles (such as Steel). We decided then and there that he was our Vic, and seeing Brandon and I in the Control Room, he had already begun to suspect whom he might be playing. We told him he had the role and confirmed he was playing Cyborg, and he practically BURST right in front of us. It was great fun.

Darkseid - We had already discussed a number of potential people to find YJ's version of Darkseid, when Brandon remembered Michael Leon Wooley's performance of the character from Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Jamie and I listened, and immediately Michael had the job.

Vandal Savage - We held auditions to see who could do the best job performing in the giant shoes that the late, great Miguel Ferrer had left behind. David Kaye was the clear favorite.

Beast Boy - When it became clear that Logan Grove was not going to be available to us, we talked with Jamie about who might be able to take his place. After we described the character's journey in Season Three, Jamie suggested Greg Cipes, knowing that we might not go for it, but feeling like Greg'd be perfect for the part. I'd worked with Greg on W.I.T.C.H. and agreed, but our upper management had been pretty adamant about us not using Titans' lead actors to play the same roles they had played on Titans. (Other Titans' actors were kiboshed for certain parts for that reason.) It was something Brandon and I initially agreed with way back in Season One, but by this time, we felt YJ had established itself as its own thing, and we were less afraid of comparisons. And for whatever reason, TPTB were fine with us casting Greg as Beast Boy.

Response recorded on August 18, 2021

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An Old Fan writes...

So I know you've answered this a number of times over the years, but rather than I asking the nth time, I've spent a while thinking about the "how".

So Macbeth and Demona cannot die but by their own hand and although there are situations that seem like they could die by another's (beheading, smashed stone, etc), these situations cannot happen because of the spell the Wierd Sisters placed on them. It protects them from assured fatal injuries that normally would kill mortals (again beheading, smashed stone, etc). The spell basically would manipulate events to ensure that Macbeth and Demona would always get out of such a situation (Macbeth getting caught in the French Revolution and is scheduled to be beheaded but some mishap with the dungeon keys delays it, buying him time to escape or Demona is forced to roost elsewhere instead of her normal spot because of some freak storm preventing her in getting back, thus sparing her from being smashed by the Hunters one morning).

They would have uncanny luck in avoiding death situations that would otherwise be assured.

Greg responds...

I guess you're basically right, but I would recharacterize it. The Sisters may not have magically enforced this "manipulation," as you put it, so much as they magically predicted future events.

Response recorded on August 18, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

Hey, Greg.

Watching Young Justice season 3, and was shocked by the appearance of designations A41 and A42. Given that the highest known A-series designation prior to this is A20 (Tye Longshadow), it seems like a lot has happened in the two-ish years between Endgame and Quiet Conversations.

I know you are loathe to reveal designations in an off-screen environment, so I won't ask who the missing twenty names are (or even the still-unrevealed A08, A09, and A14), but do you know exactly who those numbers are?

On another note, in Away Mission, the computer reads a designation as "Pierce comma Jefferson G01". But in Humanity, it reads a designation as "Zatanna Zatara A03". Is there any rhyme or reason to which designations are last-name-first or first-name-first?

Thanks!

Greg responds...

1. I do know exactly who the numbers are for. But, no, I won't be revealing any of that here.

2. The A-Designations are first name first. The G-Designations, hacked into the system by Dick Grayson are "[Last Name]-comma-[First Name]-G-[Two-Digit-Number]"

Response recorded on August 18, 2021

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Jeremy G. McLaughlin writes...

Pretty much the entire main cast of Gargoyles have popped up in some way or another on "Young Justice." But there are just a couple who have not quite shown up as of yet. Will there ever be a potential role for Salli Richardson, Frank Welker or Jonathan Frakes?

Greg responds...

Without going into specifics, Jamie and I have talked about bringing more ex-Gargoyles actors to YJ when the role seemed to fit. Sometimes we didn't have the right role. Sometimes the actor wasn't available at the right time. But there's literally no one (living or dead) from Gargoyles that I wouldn't love to get on YJ.

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Kiddo writes...

Hey, thanks for hours of entertainment through your shows. I just recently finished watching the canon run of Gargoyles on DVD through the library (Me and a friend greatly enjoyed the journey, and had a lot of fun watching it!) after growing up on your other shows, like Young Justice and Spectacular Spider-Man. So, thank you, and as I’m new here, I’d figure I’d try and put a question that isn’t quite so... obvious.
Did Eliza’s palate change much after the Avalon World Tour?

Greg responds...

Um... sure.

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Joshua writes...

Hey Greg I'm a newbie who just started watching your show on disney+ and first off wow! How did miss this? Now that gargoyles is on a exclusive streaming service is there any new possibilities for it to come back? -also while typing this would you be open to a kingdom Hearts crossover or a gargoyles video in general?

Greg responds...

We're trying to get everyone to #KeepBingingGargoyles over and over again on Disney+ - because we DO think there's a possibility that Gargoyles might be able to come back, if fans prove to the company that there's an interest.

I don't know much about Kingdom Hearts, but I'm certainly open to including Gargoyles. That's been discussed in the past, but never happened - to my knowledge.

And I'd love to do Gargoyles in ANY medium, if given the chance.

The thing to keep in mind is that it's not up to me. But the fans (collectively) have more power than they think, if they understand how to exercise it.

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Andrew writes...

Hey Greg, got two questions for you

1. How did you meet Brandon Vietti?

2. I ask because I'm a big of the DCAU, how did Rich Fogel get involved with the series?

Greg responds...

1. Brandon and I met a couple times when I was at Sony and when I was freelancing for WB. But, honestly, we really didn't meet for real until Sam Register teamed us up to develop a new series for WB Animation. (That series was a Green Lantern series that was never made, followed by a Space Ghost series that was never made, before we finally were assigned to Young Justice.)

2. Rich and I go way back to my Disney days. He and Mark Seidenberg were partnered up, editing Gummi Bears. We've kept in touch, on and off, over the years. And more recently, we were both staff writers on Shimmer & Shine. I truly loved the Shimmer & Shine writing staff (Stephanie Simpson, Dustin Ferrer, Kevin Hopps, Cisco Paredes, Andrew Blanchette and Rich), so when YJ started up again I tried to get everyone to write an episode for Season Three and/or Four. Stephanie and Dustin haven't had the time, but the rest have all pitched in for an episode or two. (Of course, Kevin was already a YJ writer.)

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Andrew writes...

Hello Greg, In YJ, what is the thought process behind each season's time jump, how do you and the creative team decide the length of each jump and how do you believe they add to the characters and the overall narrative?

Greg responds...

Again, this has been covered in the ASK GREG ARCHIVES multiple times. But generally, we think it allows us to show the growth and maturation of our young characters.

The length of the time jump is generally determined by both what we want to hide (and later reveal) about our characters and when in the timeline does the story fall that we want/need to tell.

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Andrew writes...

Hey Greg, how do you plot seasons and specific episodes, do you set end goals to achieve in the story or do you begin to plot and see where the story flows naturally?

Greg responds...

Um, both. Go through the ASK GREG ARCHIVES for more detailed responses. But we use index cards with events marking tent poles in our stories, and then fill in with more index cards until every season, every episode, every scene is fleshed out fully.

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Andrew writes...

Hey Greg, I've noticed in the credits for Outsiders, all of the Milestone characters are credited as "Created by Milestone Media." Are there any specific reasons why Dwayne McDuffie and the other Milestone creators aren't individually mentioned?

Thanks for a great season.

Greg responds...

It's a legal decision that's way above my paygrade to credit the creation of all Milestone characters to the Milestone company. That's all I know. But I don't think it began with Season Three. Didn't we do the same thing in Seasons One and Two?

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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A.M.Sirce writes...

I'm not certain if this has been asked.

What are the "cursing" equivalents from Macbeth and King Arthur's times compared to modern day "cursing"(sh*t, F**k, B*tch, etc.)?

I imagine the "olden times" curse words/expletives and similar expressions would be considered quite "tame" and even silly compared to modern stuff. Though I suppose they could potentially be taken up as "alternative curses" by modern day generations.

It's something that's made me wonder.

Greg responds...

I'd have to research that. I may have known the answer at some point, but it's just been too long.

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Todd Jensen writes...

I decided to reread "Clan-Building" as well, after rewatching the first two seasons of "Gargoyles" on DVD, starting with Chapters One and Two ("The Journey)).

The "hunting" analogy continues even past "Hunter's Moon" with Vinnie stating that he hunted a gargoyle down, and Castaway mentioning it (both specifically use the word "hunted").

In my "review comments" on "Hunter's Moon", I noted how it ended, in its final scene at the castle, on what went well for the gargoyles (they're back in the castle, they've made peace with Xanatos, etc.), with their being revealed to the public not mentioned. "The Journey" opens with it being made clear that their problems aren't that over after all, with the public's alarm, the foundation of the Quarrymen, and even Brooklyn raising the question of whether Xanatos really has changed that much. I think his sardonic "Welcome home" establishes the "It's not so happily ever after, after all" tone - in contrast to the way Elisa said "Welcome home" at the very end of "Hunter's Moon".

Greg responds...

It was nice to finally be able to do my version of "The Journey" - as opposed to the reedited piece that was used in The Goliath Chronicles.

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Todd Jensen writes...

Rewatched "Hunter's Moon" yesterday (Sunday) on DVD - all three parts.

I've mentioned before spotting a lot of mentions of hunting, usually applied to humans going after gargoyles with hostile intent, and it struck me that this made it appropriate that the Hunters would be the gargoyles' adversaries in the finale. (Well, the Disney Afternoon finale/Season Two finale.)

And it struck me that the Hunters were the most dangerous opponents that the gargoyles faced in modern times, judging by results. They blew up the clock tower, destroying the gargoyles' home, and then exposed them to the public. The former was partly undone by the gargoyles getting their old home (the castle) back by the end of the episode, but not the latter - now the gargoyles are facing an alarmed public (even though they're safe at the end - for the moment). None of the gargoyles' other adversaries in modern times have been able to inflict that much damage on them. To top it, you'd have to go back to 994 and the Wyvern Massacre.

A few things that struck me this time around:

Goliath and Elisa are actually openly speaking to each other and even sharing a brief embrace on board the passenger train, just after foiling the robbery; fortunately, the passengers apparently didn't notice that.

Hudson greets the returning gargoyles as "lads" - then quickly adding in "And lassie, of course", for Angela. It reminded me of his use of just "lads" for the younger gargoyles in "Possession" that I mentioned in my post on it - apparently he's getting more adjusted now to Angela's presence in the clan.

The trio's clash with Demona in Part One seems the last "trio action" in the series; they're increasingly split up (or else acting with the rest of the clan present) after this.

Lexington and Brooklyn's shared uneasy glances when they return to the clock tower with Goliath near the end of Part Two seemed all the stronger when I realized "the audience knows that Robyn and Jon survived Goliath's fight with them, but Lex and Brooklyn don't - from their perspective, Goliath had apparently killed those two."

Jon Canmore's cry about the gargoyles when he's facing Jason at the end, "They killed dad!", struck me as a sign of how (even before shooting Jason) he was losing it; it was Demona who killed Charles Canmore, none of the Manhattan clan were even present at the event, and Jon was there so he knows it.

Broadway shows how much his attitude towards reading has changed since the start of "A Lighthouse in the Sea of Time" when he's talking to Angela about how great the castle library is (and we'll see them there together in "The Journey").

This story really does seem like a good conclusion for the series in so many ways - the gargoyles are back in the castle again, their war with Xanatos is (seemingly) over, they'd defeated Demona's big scheme to wipe out humanity, Elisa finally admitted her feelings for Goliath and even kissed him. Except there's a big loose end with the gargoyles' existence being made public, and most of the New Yorkers aren't too happy about it. (Brooklyn's "And so it begins" remark does also support the feeling that the story could continue past this spot.) But it certainly makes a good season finale.

Oh, and I counted the number of "claw-mark transitions" in the entire two seasons during this review - 28 in all.

Greg responds...

We were pretty happy with it.

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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tom writes...

in nevermore why did the light wanted garfield dead

Greg responds...

For the effect it would have on the League, Team and Outsiders - and because they felt they could leverage his death into creating a super-hero registry, which they could then exploit.

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Todd Jensen writes...

New thoughts and observations on "Possession", which I also rewatched on DVD today.

Coldfire and Coldsteel's bodies are initially covered by cloths; while it serves the function of keeping their nature secret from the audience at first, it also does a good job of echoing the "Frankenstein" tone of Coldstone's introduction in "Re-Awakening".

When Goliath and Hudson return to the clock tower from patrol, Hudson initially says "lads" - and just that, with no mention that there should be a "lass" among them as well. We get an echo of this, I recall, in "Hunter's Moon Part One" when he addresses the clan as "lads", then remembers Angela and adds "lass" in; this moment brought that scene to mind.

Coldstone's line near the end about how "we truly lived again" echoed Goliath's "we live again" words in the opening narration, though I don't know if it was intentional.

Greg responds...

It's a pretty safe bet that most everything is intentional. (Or that I will intentionally take credit for it.) But seriously, we were very aware of pushing call back moments throughout. I do that on every series I produce.

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Todd Jensen writes...

I watched "Turf" on DVD yesterday as well, but don't have anything new to say about it, so my new thoughts on "The Reckoning", which I watched with "Possession" on DVD today.

In Act I, Hudson warns Angela that her mother "is capable of anything". Angela later uses those exact words when confronting Demona in Act III.

Elisa gets bitten by a mosquito while in the Labyrinth; I wonder if that was the moment when Sevarius and Thailog acquired her DNA for Delilah; it'd certainly be a "playing fair with the audience" moment.

While Demona professes outrage over Angela's claim to be her daughter, her eyes aren't glowing red - and later we learn that she'd known Angela to be her daughter all along. The "eyes not glowing red" part makes a good hint to the audience that she was feigning anger and disbelief.

Greg responds...

That mosquito is exactly when Elisa's DNA was taken for later use in creating Delilah.

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Todd Jensen writes...

Rewatched "Vendettas" today - this time around, I spotted what looked like a small village in the opening shot (near the former site of Castle Wyvern). A minor detail, I know, but I liked the discovery of a village or small town in the area.

Greg responds...

Yep. Especially one that the Vikings haven't sacked for a century or ten.

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Krazyfan writes...

You like Ghost Rider, right? since they have the ability to amplify and boost anything they ride on, what kinda things would you ever want to see one ride? I kinda like the idea of Johnny or another Rider Riding, and therefore Boosting, either The Hulk, or the Helicarrior...

Greg responds...

Um... how about a motorcycle? Is that too radical?

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Todd Jensen writes...

Rewatched "The Gathering" (both episodes) on DVD today. A few new things I noticed about it.

A minor detail, but which I find touching: when Renard learns about Anastasia's remarriage,, he sadly clasps her hand.

The letter X is prominent among the Xanatoses: Xanatos, FoX, and AleXander. And then I thought of LeXington, who isn't one of the family, but who's close to Alex, and who became Xanatos's secret successor in "Future Tense". (And there's that bit, also, in your "Gargoyles 2198" piece, about the Lexington-Xanatos Corporation.)

Goliath's homecoming makes a lovely contrast with "Future Tense", as he warmly embraces the overjoyed Brooklyn and Lexington (the two members of the clan who'd been bitter towards his late return in "Future Tense") and Hudson says "I knew you hadn't abandoned us." (While Broadway hugs Elisa, tying in with his being the closest to her among the trio, ever since "Deadly Force".)

One feature of Goliath's pondering the possibility that Avalon sent him to Manhattan to stop Oberon from taking Alex away; if his speculation was correct, that means that Avalon was, in a way, going against its lord and master. Though that made sense when I thought about it; without going too deeply into hypotheticals, I suspect that things would have not gone well for Avalon if Oberon *had* spirited Alex away (no way would his parents have accepted that), and Avalon would be sparing itself and its lord and master a lot of potential trouble in thwarting him.

You mentioned once that you wanted to have Puck break the fourth wall, but the rest of the production team objected to it. I noticed that he does come close, though, when he turns towards the camera while saying "I'm on a roll". (And when somebody *did* break the fourth wall, it was Brooklyn instead.)

At the very end, Broadway turns to stone shortly before the rest of the clan does.

Greg responds...

Interesting observations. Thanks for all these, Todd.

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Todd Jensen writes...

Rewatched "Future Tense" on DVD today. Things I noticed this time on it.

Bronx looks sad when Hudson's death is revealed; given the bond the two had showed throughout the series, I thought if both fitting and touching (even if it's not really Bronx).

Goliath tells Brooklyn "we thought our odyssey was fated". I thought "odyssey" an appropriate term, since Odysseus spent twenty years away from Ithaca, and Goliath supposedly spent forty years away from Manhattan - and since gargoyles age at half the speed of humans, twenty years for humans would translate to forty years for gargoyles. (I'll admit I'm reaching here - and it feels odd to be linking Goliath to Odysseus when I'd normally think of comparing a different "Gargoyles" character to Odysseus - a fellow Greek trickster....)

The Xanatos Program's intention of using the "World Wide Net" to download itself on every computer marks one of the extremely few occasions I can think of where the Internet was alluded to on "Gargoyles"; the only other example that comes to mind was Sevarius receiving his instructions for "kidnapping" Thailog via "electronic mail". (It also got mentioned in one of the Goliath Chronicles episodes, but that doesn't count.) The near-absence of the Internet from the series certainly makes it appear
technologically dated" from today's perspective.

Greg responds...

I think "odyssey" is a particular apt word. And though Goliath and Odysseus don't have a lot of character traits in common, I do think the comparison here was intentional. And they are both big, strong heroes.

The absence of something like the internet is less of a problem for me - in terms of dating the series - than, say, the brick-sized cellphones that Xanatos and others occasionally use.

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Todd Jensen writes...

Rewatched "Ill Met By Moonlight" today.

I spotted more hunting allusions in it (though this time, the gargoyles' "hunter" isn't a human); Titania's incantation to temporarily restrict Oberon's abilities includes the line "Till hunt be done", and Oberon says, after defeating Goliath, "And so ends the hunt". (He also evokes hunting imagery when he says "the rabbits would face the fox" - though I couldn't help thinking when he said it, "Technically, they're facing the fox's stepfather, though the audience isn't supposed to know that for another two episodes.")

Greg responds...

Nice.

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Todd Jensen writes...

Rewatched "Cloud Fathers" on DVD yesterday.

This time while watching it, I wondered how Bronx left Beth's apartment. Goliath and Angela glided off without him, and I didn't see him going out the door with the Mazas (which wouldn't have been an option in any case, for obvious reasons).

We get another bit of hunting "verbal imagery", though one of the rare occasions where it's not directed at gargoyles, when Xanatos refers to Coyote the Trickster as his "true quarry".

Coyote the Trickster disappearing when he got the Mazas to look away for a moment reminds me of the tradition about how, if you look away from the faerie-folk for even a moment, they can vanish.

Greg responds...

Don't really remember Bronx's exit without rewatching. But mightn't he have just walked down the outer wall of the building.

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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SmashDog19 writes...

My other question is Tim smarter than Dick in Young justice, since he is the smartest and the best detective out of all the robins.

Greg responds...

I guess. I'm not big on quantifying these things. But Tim is very smart.

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Todd Jensen writes...

Rewatched "Bushido" today (I rewatched "Sentinel" yesterday, but had no new thoughts on it).

What most struck me this time around was the parallel to "Awakening", with Taro as like a less-serious version of Xanatos. The two specifics I noticed were the gargoyles' awakening in the theme park, which reminded me of the clan's first awakening in Manhattan, and their wondering if someone had moved the temple, which evoked Xanatos moving the castle to New York.

Greg responds...

Those parallels were very intentional.

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Todd Jensen writes...

Rewatched "The Green" today.

I might be reading too much into this, but I noted that the ones responsible for the theft of the Mayan Sun Amulet and the deaths of most of the Mayan clan were called "poachers" - a term for illegal hunters. Given the recurrent theme about gargoyles being hunted and facing danger from hunters that I've been paying close attention to in the 25th anniversary reviewing, I thought that an apt word choice.

This episode featured five "clawmark" transitions, the most I've noted to date in any individual episode of "Gargoyles". (I've been keeping track of those during the silver anniversary reviewing, and counted fifteen up to this point, of which five were in this episode - one-third, in other words.)

Greg responds...

Wow. That's a lot of claw wipes. But we also had more location transitions from Manhattan to the Green and back.

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Todd Jensen writes...

Rewatched "The New Olympians" on DVD today.

Continuing the "hunting" theme in "Gargoyles" that I've paid closer attention to this time around, I noticed that Ekidne described the New Olympians' ancestors as "hunted". (I also spotted a New Olympian extra who looked a lot like traditional depictions of Artemis/Diana, the goddess of the hunt - though I think I'm reading too much into that.)

Goliath's words to Angela about how they cannot wage war on an entire city remind me of his words to Demona in "Awakening Part Five" of how he cannot wage war upon an entire world.

Greg responds...

Also intentional. I love those kinds of callbacks.

Response recorded on August 16, 2021

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Todd Jensen writes...

Rewatched "Eye of the Storm" on DVD today.

I noticed, this time around, that after Goliath rescues Elisa from Odin, Odin cries "This isn't over!" - the same words that Hakon used after his initial attack on the castle was turned back at the start of the series. It struck me as appropriate, since they were both "Old Norse". (I don't know if that was intentional, though, or just a fortunate coincidence.)

Greg responds...

Intentional.

Response recorded on August 16, 2021

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Todd Jensen writes...

Rewatched "Pendragon" on DVD yesterday. A few observations from this time around.

Hudson recognizes the wind that heralds the arrival of King Arthur and Griff; I suspected that there's an interesting story behind that and how he came to know it. Most likely something that would be told in "Dark Ages".

Griff refers to Westminster Abbey as "my abbey" when initially confronting King Arthur - for me, it evoked Goliath speaking of "my castle" when confronting Elisa back in "Awakening Part Three". Evidently part of the gargoyles' territorial nature manifesting itself.

Macbeth immediately recognizes Griff as a gargoyle, though all his on-stage encounters with gargoyles up till then were with the Scottish variety. (Of course, most of the things that went on during those nine hundred years of wandering in his life, we don't know about - only his fighting at Bannockburn on the Scottish side, and taking part in the 1950 removal of the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey.)

I really like the term "rookery poem" as a gargoyle counterpart to "nursery rhyme".

Greg responds...

Someone should write a book of rookery poems...

Response recorded on August 16, 2021

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Reflex49 writes...

Well I thought it's been a decade since I last asked this, I am however taking a way different approach to this. Yes it's probably the single most asked question "What did Titania whisper to Fox. This however isn't my direct question. (Well not for this decade, as it seems that you won't give the answer as it could and most likely would be anticlimactic.)

My question is, what Titania whispered to Fox, did that come to fruition or hinted at, in a later story or plot point in the series? If so would you be willing to tell which episode or comic issue? And to cover my basis What episode or comic issue would it be?

Greg responds...

No spoilers.

But valiant effort...

Response recorded on August 16, 2021

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Todd Jensen writes...

Rewatched "Mark of the Panther" on DVD today.

I've mentioned before how I've noticed a strong "hunting" motif running through "Gargoyles" during my reviewing it; this episode included more of that theme, though, for a change, it didn't involve humans going after gargoyles. Instead, it was the Panther Queen and, later, Fara Maku, hunting for Anansi, and then Tea and the poachers hunting panthers.

Elisa lists the body parts of panthers that poachers are after as skin, teeth, and claws. When Diane Maza tells the story of the Panther Queen shortly afterwards, her description of the Panther Queen stresses those same three attributes (well, fur rather than skin, but it's close enough), but now focusing on their beauty, rather than the monetary worth that motivated the poachers. (And when Anansi turns the Panther Queen into a human, the story stresses the Queen's loss of those same attributes.)

Goliath's explanation to Diane, when they're trapped in the pit, that he can only glide, not fly, echoed (for me) his explanation to Elisa on the ledge back in "Awakening Part Three". Like mother, like daughter....

Greg responds...

Yep...

Response recorded on August 16, 2021

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Todd Jensen writes...

Rewatched "The Hound of Ulster" yesterday, but I didn't have any new thoughts on it, so I skipped it over - and "Walkabout" today.

Things that struck me about "Walkabout" this time around:

I'd noticed this before, but Bronx growls at a kangaroo near the beginning. I wonder what he dislikes about them. (I also spotted a koala up in a tree - that I *hadn't* seen in past viewings.)

I was amused by Elisa's description of Dingo as "not one of the good guys" - since that could so easily be tweaked to "one of the bad guys". I don't know if you'd come up with the name for that spin-off at the time, of course.

Goliath at one point says "Aye, for now" - probably the one occasion where he says "Aye" - he usually leaves those Scottish-toned words to Hudson.

During the battle with the Matrix in the Dreamtime-world, Goliath imprisons it briefly within a dome that looks a lot like the domes it was producing in the waking world, and conjures up a shield with a sun-design upon it - a strange emblem for a gargoyle to bear.

Greg responds...

Maybe Bronx just had never seen a kangaroo before...

Response recorded on August 16, 2021

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Lauren B. writes...

Why wasn't Gargoyles included in Kingdom Hearts 3? The more I binge Gargoyles from Disney+ the more I think of how it would have been just the perfect world for a DLC add on. It's just a shame it's not included and I really want to know why.

Greg responds...

Then you are asking the wrong guy. I have no idea.

Response recorded on August 16, 2021

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Red Star writes...

Being an ENORMOUS Dracula fan, I always thought the vampire would be interesting to see in Gargoyles and am delighted to see that he is in line to enter the storyline. Some questions:

1. Do you have someone in mind to play Dracula?

2. Is this Dracula in fact Vlad Tepes (the Impaler) as popular lore has it?

Greg responds...

1. No. Not yet.

2. No spoilers.

Response recorded on August 16, 2021

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Jordan Fenster writes...

I am really curious why Gotham appears to be Bridgeport, Connecticut, in an episode of Young Justice.

Greg responds...

Does it?

Response recorded on August 16, 2021

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Erik writes...

I have a simple question, who were the artists that did the concept art for the show? I have searched extensively but couldn't find much in detail, even after searching the archives.

I found Dennis Woodyard, Kazuo Terada and Hiroshi Ohno but not much in terms of concept art. Maybe it's because there wasn't social media platforms to share them to back then when the show aired.

Greg responds...

From context, I assume you're talking about Gargoyles. This is all in the archives, but I don't mind mentioning their names again:

BOB KLINE

DAVE SCHWARTZ

GREG GULER

PAUL FELIX

Response recorded on August 16, 2021


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