'The Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy' Turns 42 (economist.com) 41
schweini shares a report: Every year the world celebrates the anniversaries of masterworks and maestros. In 2020, a host of events and publications commemorated the lives of Ludwig van Beethoven, Raphael, Charles Dickens, Anne Bronte and William Wordsworth. Such milestones usually come in neat multiples of 50. The 42nd anniversary of anything is rarely observed. Yet on March 8th fans of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" ("HHGTTG") paid tribute to the comedy science-fiction series, which had its radio premiere on that day in 1978 and was subsequently adapted into novels, TV series, video games and a film.
To mark the occasion, Pan Macmillan reprinted the scripts and novels in colourful new editions ("HHGTTG" was the first book published under their "Pan Original" imprint to sell more than 1m copies). The British Library will host a day of "celebrations, conversation and performance." BBC Radio 4 has aired the original episodes; Radio 4 Extra will put on a "five-hour Hitchhiker's spectacular" including archival material and specially commissioned programmes. Such is the enduring interest in Douglas Adams's story that it is due to be adapted into a new television series by Hulu, a streaming service.
To mark the occasion, Pan Macmillan reprinted the scripts and novels in colourful new editions ("HHGTTG" was the first book published under their "Pan Original" imprint to sell more than 1m copies). The British Library will host a day of "celebrations, conversation and performance." BBC Radio 4 has aired the original episodes; Radio 4 Extra will put on a "five-hour Hitchhiker's spectacular" including archival material and specially commissioned programmes. Such is the enduring interest in Douglas Adams's story that it is due to be adapted into a new television series by Hulu, a streaming service.
Re: NOT NEWS (Score:5, Insightful)
So long and thanks for all the fish
There FTFY
Not JUST a great book... (Score:5, Insightful)
Many things that it laughingly pointed out 42 years ago, are true today, and in an eerie way. The very concept of "the hitchhiker's guide" exists today in everyone's pocket, and yet, here we are still drumming about the 'regular' life as it is today. Oh if Marvin could see the world as it is today...
Seriously this is a fantastic book, and if you go through life without reading it, I'd say that's close to going through life without ever doing psychedelics, or having sex.
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Just replace the Bible with H2G2 and you'll do okay by the rest of the Universe.
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Not a book at all (Score:2)
It was a radio play. A brilliant production.
Books came later. And audio books (with someone reading the book) a travesty.
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The original radio broadcasts contained some wonderful comments from the normaly staid radio 4 interval presenters and as with many things these broadcasts have have found their way online. At the time I recorded them onto cassette tape. You cannot imagine the excitement of tuning in each week for those of us tuned into the nacent personal computing revolution. The show was precient in so many ways, from the irritation of interacting with automated "intelligences" to the mockery of trendiness that is the in
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I still haven't done this book, psychedelics, and sex after 42 years. :P
So THAT was the question (Score:2)
...to which the answer was 42.
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He thought it impossible for the universe to be factored in Base 8.
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Marvin? Is that you?
The movie was crap (Score:4, Insightful)
“And all dared to brave unknown terrors, to do mighty deeds, to boldly split infinitives that no man had split before--and thus was the Empire forged.”
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Why is 42 important? (Score:4, Informative)
42 is the answer to the “ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything,” a joke in Douglas Adams’s 1979 novel, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Somehow this seems like an important reason to celebrate... This seems to be missed by the posting. -Chris
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If you don't already know...you probably don't care.
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The radio play was a master piece (Score:2)
There were a dozen clever twists in every 10 minute episode. I remember waiting by the radio with baited breath for each episode, very sad when I missed one. (Yes, there was a time before the internet.).
The second season was garbage and should not have been made.
* Destroy Dent's house and then the earth not for any grand reason but for a by pass.
* Vogan poetry
* The improbability drive.
* Toss them into space where their probability of surviving was infinitely small. It almost makes sense if you think abou
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I don't know what horribly bowdlerised monstrosity you had inflicted on you, but the ones everyone else heard were 30 minutes in length.
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Maybe. But it was a long time ago and I can only remember 10 minutes of it.
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Tag your spoilers next time, geez!
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Destroy Dent's house and then the earth not for any grand reason but for a by pass.
The hyperspace bypass was just the excuse given to destroy Earth before its computations finish so The Ultimate Question was never found and the philosophers could stay employed. It didn't matter anyway though because the Golgafrinchians contaminated the experiment ages ago.
Meaning of 42? (Score:1)
Questions on a postcard please
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Nah. It is what you get when you multiply six by nine.
Last Chance to See (Score:2)
Comment removed (Score:3)
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Thank you kind One.
Marvin ("The paranoid android") (Score:1)
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There used to be a server out there (kcore.org) which had a modified "Error 404 - Page not found" based on Marvin. As everyone should know, Marvin was designed by a committee, thus his prototype version of the Genuine People Personality was an average cocktail of depression/boredom/frustration/etc.:
[in a scrolling textarea:]
A day late and a Dollar more (Score:2)
The story so far: (Score:3)
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
Happy Birthday (Score:4, Funny)
"Why, what did she tell you?"
"I don't know, I didn't listen.”
I listened. (Score:2)
I remember clearly listening to that first broadcast on a tiny transistor radio under the bed covers. I was torn between this new R4 series and a Frank Muir comedy on R2. I switched between them a few times before getting hooked by THGTTG.
At the time I thought hardly anyone had noticed it existed. There was one friend at school who I knew listened.
Whatever you do ... (Score:2)
Thanks for this posting! (Score:2)