Revised FAQ (part 1 of 2)
Robert C. Phelps
INTRODUCTION.
Welcome to the "Frequently Asked Questions" file for "Lois &
Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" and the LOISCLA Listserv.
This file is constantly "under construction." Consequently, your
suggestions are appreciated (please be kind!)
This file was compiled by Bob Phelps (rph...@holonet.net),
with able assistance, suggestions and moral support from Tara
O'Shea, O'Dette Havel, Zoomway, Jeffery Sykes, Andrea Aron, Dave
Miller, Mike Williams, Dayna Vanderveen, Diane Levitan, Gail
Lefkowitz,
Lisa Carroll, nancy in chicago, Rhen Brink and others.
If you are reading this FAQ other than on the Listserv,
please join us! To subscribe, send a message to
LIST...@VM.EGE.EDU.TR with the message SUB LOISCLA <your name>.
Postings to the list should be sent to LOI...@VM.EGE.EDU.TR.
Our listowner (affectionately known as "Mom") is Tara O'Shea
(ta...@hydra.unm.edu).
CONTENTS.
1. Cast biographies.
2. Do they read what we write?
3. What does the "K" in K Callan's name stand for?
4. What is "The Cool Surface" (and should I care)?
5. Where can I get find the cast's other film and tv
credits?
6. Where can I get L&C photos/scans?
7. Changes in the show for the second season.
8. What happened to "Jimmy"?
9. Changes in the show for the third season
10. Listserv etiquette and alphabet soup (or: Do
"FOLCS" and "SPOCKs" suffer from "LCWS")?
A. Introductions.
B. Flames and personal attacks.
C. "Spoilers."
D. Acronyms.
E. Combining posts
11. How did Lex Luthor survive?
12. Where is Metropolis?
13. Episode titles (and airdates)
14. What other L&C-related resources are available on the
internet?
A. Episode guides and summaries.
B. WWW pages.
C. Other info sources (Newsgroups, AOL, CompuServe, etc.)
D. The Kryptonian Cybernet.
E. The L&C Metropolis Club.
F. The Lois and Clark Fan Club.
G. The L&C Krypton Club
15. What are the mailing addresses for the show and ABC?
16. How can I deal with the volume of messages this
list generates?
17. What are "IRC" and the "Undernet" (and what do they have
to do with L&C)?
18. Fanfic.
A. The fanfic mailing list.
B. The fanfic index and archive.
C. The USENET fanfic newsgroup.
19. What's all this talk about t-shirts?
20. Why do we talk about Lois' brown suits so much?
21. Are "Lois & Clark" videotapes available commercially?
22. What is/was "The FOLCfest"?
23. What is "Suen's Statue"?
And now for some answers....
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1. CAST BIOGRAPHIES.
DEAN CAIN: Cain attended Princeton University, where he studied
history. He was an All-American defensive back on the Princeton
football team (he still holds the NCAA record for the most
interceptions
in one season), and was also captain of Princeton's volleyball team.
After graduation, he signed with the Buffalo Bills
professional football team, but was sidelined by a pre-season knee
injury and never played a regular season game with the Bills.
Cain guest starred on many television series and until he
landed his current series, was best known for his role of Rick on
"Beverly Hills, 90210." His other television credits include
roles on "Life Goes On," "A Different World" and "Grapevine."
On the big screen, he was seen in the critically acclaimed
feature film, "The Stone Boy," directed by his father,
Christopher Cain.
Dean is actively pursuing a writing career in addition to acting.
He is reportedly working on "a number of feature-film scripts,"
and he produced a special for ABC. He also wrote the story for
"Seasons Greedings," a second season episode of "Lois & Clark"
and "Virtually Destroyed," a third season episode.
Dean is not married.
BIRTHPLACE: Mt. Clemens, MI
BIRTHDATE: July 31, 1966
TERI HATCHER: Teri Hatcher was born and raised in Sunnyvale,
California,
south of San Francisco. She has no siblings. Her parents were both
employed in high-tech jobs in the Bay Area. After graduating from
Fremont High School (where she was jokingly voted the "Girl Most
Likely
to Become A 'Solid Gold' Dancer"), Hatcher attended De Anza College in
Cupertino, California, studying mathematics and engineering. During
this
period, she also began studying acting at the American Conservatory
Theatre.
Hollywood called, however, though somewhat by accident. She
attended an open casting call in 1985 -- as a favor to a friend who
needed moral support -- and ended up as a dancing mermaid on ABC's
"The Love Boat." Hatcher says, "I thought, 'I'll do this for a year
and then go back to school and get my mathematics degree and have my
normal life.' Well, I hooked up with some great people in L.A., who
had a lot of integrity, and I worked really hard, and things kind of
snowballed. And I've been here ever since."
Teri made her motion-picture debut as a sexy, self-absorbed
starlet in Christopher Guest's Hollywood satire, "The Big
Picture." She followed that success with a dramatic role as the
sister of
Sylvester Stallone's character in the film, "Tango and Cash,"
then returned to comedy with Sally Field and Kevin Kline in
"Soapdish," and appeared opposite Dolly Parton and James Woods in
"Straight Talk." Teri also had the recurring role of Penny Parker in
the series "Mcguyver." She will co-star with Alec Baldwin, Eric
Roberts, Mary Stuart Masterson and Kelly Lynch in the upcoming
thriller, "Heaven's Prisoners." She will also appear in a cameo
in the feature film, "Dead Girl," starring Val Kilmer.
She starred on Norman Lear's semiautobiographical television
series, "Sunday Dinner," and has guest starred on such series as
"Seinfeld," "Murphy Brown," "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and
"L.A. Law."
An incorrigible animal lover, Ms. Hatcher finds it impossible to
resist adopting strays of all sorts. Her current menagerie
includes two dogs, three cats, a cockatiel and a tortoise. Other
favorite activities include skiing, golf and gardening. Ms.
Hatcher married actor Jon Tenney in May, 1994.
BIRTHPLACE: Sunnyvale, CA
BIRTHDATE: Dec. 8, 1964
2. DO THEY READ WHAT WE WRITE?
In a word, yes. Listmember Paul Hulse works at Warner Brothers,
where "Lois & Clark" is shot. Paul prints out copies of highlights
of our discussions and posts them for the cast and crew to read. Ken
Fuller, the sound mixer, highlights interesting parts.
In an e-mail message to Paul, K Callan ("Martha Kent") wrote:
"I'm so glad to know that we have a group of people who care
enough about the show to get on line and discuss what goes on.
Television and film are not like theater where you get immediate
gratification by reading an audience's reactions while you are
performing. With an on line group, the reaction is almost as
instant - nice. I have seen some of the discussions that have
been passed on to Kenny. Perhaps I'll able to tune in and find
out first hand what you think."
Teri Hatcher also commented about the group in a December, 1994,
interview on the television show "Extra":
"It's really quite flattering. It's amazing, because we come
in to work on Monday mornings around 5 o'clock in the morning.
And by the time we get here, there's about 40 pages printed out
that someone will bring in from the Lois & Clark [group]."
Kathy Glynn, one of the Staff Writer's Assistants, wrote to
listmember
nancy in chicago, "We really appreciate the feedback and, I assure
you, the
writer _always_ sees the whole pile of comments." Producers Eugenie
Ross-Leming and Brad Buckner commented in more detail on this subject
in an article in the November 12, 1995, L.A. Times:
"'It's a whole different thing than fan mail, which is
disembodied,'
says Brad Buckner, co-executive producer of ABC's 'Lois & Clark:
The New Adventures of Superman,' another show with a rabid online
following.
"'This is very visceral,' adds fellow co-executive producer
Eugenie
Ross-Leming. 'When you read this, you see all those exclamation
points -- it's like a comic book.'
"The two, who read weekly printouts of postings, have used the
comments as ammunition and story ideas.
"'It gave us permission as writers," Ross-Leming says. "If we
get
a note from the network that might be more conservative than we
would want it to be, we could point out to them, no, they want
this.'"
3. WHAT DOES THE "K" IN K CALLAN'S NAME STAND FOR?
The part of Martha Kent is played by K Callan. As she explained
to the FOLCs on CompuServe:
"I was born Katherine, but always called Kay until I was
about 21
then my now-ex-husband named me "K" it's all I have left of my
original name, because 'Callan' was his name, but I like it a
lot."
4. WHAT IS "THE COOL SURFACE" (AND SHOULD I CARE)?
"The Cool Surface" is a movie featuring Teri Hatcher. It is
possibly most noteworthy for the fact that Teri Hatcher has a
couple of nude scenes in it. It's a lousy movie.
And no, there is no equivalent for Dean Cain (as far as we
know).
Your FAQ author chooses not to waste any more space on this
subject.
5. WHERE CAN I GET FIND THE CAST'S OTHER FILM AND TV
CREDITS?
Filmographies are available through the Internet Movie
Database. You can obtain them by e-mail by sending the message
ACTOR Cain, Dean (for example) to mo...@ibmpcug.co.uk. A copy of
the actor's filmography will be sent to you by return e-mail.
The database can also be accessed directly by pointing your
WWW browser to: http://www.cm.cf.ac.uk/Movies/
or http://www.msstate.edu/Movies/.
6. WHERE CAN I GET L&C PHOTOS/SCANS/FILES?
The best source has traditionally been the anonymous FTP site at
ftp.hyperion.com. The directory is: /pub/TV/Lois-and-Clark. The
"hyperion
collection" is mirrored at two other sites: ftp.best.com (in the
directory
/v2/pub/hyperion/Lois-and-Clark) and ftp.uml.edu (in the directory
/TV/Lois-and-Clark). The file titles at these sites can be cryptic;
the file descriptions are non-existent. You may wish to download
"thumbnail" version of the files first. These are much smaller
versions
of the photos you can preview before deciding whether to spend the
time
downloading the full files. The thumbnail files are located at:
ftp.hyperion.com (in the directory /pub/TV/Lois-and-Clark/Thumb),
ftp.best.com (directory /v2/pub/hyperion/Lois-and-Clark/Thumb) and
ftp.uml.edu (directory /TV/Lois-and-Clark/Thumb).
If you have access to the America On Line service, there is
also a collection of L&C images in ABC's "photo gallery."
Use the keyword "ABC" to access this section. There are also good
collections on CompuServe in the Entertainment Drive (GO EDRIVE)
and Science Fiction Media (GO SFMEDTWO) forums.
Finally, FOLC Debby Stark maintains a small FTP site at:
ftp://ftp.swcp.com/pub/users/dstark. This is not primarily an images
site. However, it is a good place to get a copy of Debby's Lois &
Clark
fanfic opus "Dawnings."
Most of the images on these sites are in the .jpg format.
7. CHANGES IN THE SHOW FOR THE SECOND SEASON.
ABC attempted to re-tool "Lois and Clark" for the second
season. The New York Times (October 16, 1994) explained:
"Although 'Lois and Clark' got good reviews, especially
for the tongue-in-cheek romantic 'triangle' of Lois
Lane, Superman and his alter ego, Clark Kent, it
struggled in its 8 P.M. Sunday time slot, finishing far
behind CBS's 'Murder, She Wrote' and in a virtual tie
for second with NBC's 'Sea Quest D.S.V.'
"ABC executives concluded that a major overhaul was
needed. Out went much of the romantic whimsy (and Ms.
Levine [the show's creator and first-season producer];
in went more special effects and adventure."
8. WHAT HAPPENED TO "JIMMY"?
The part of Jimmy Olsen was recast between the first and
second seasons, with Justin Whalin replacing Michael Landes.
Again, according to The New York Times (October 16, 1994):
"The network [ABC] also advised that Mr. Landes was
confusingly similar in appearance to the dark-haired
Dean Cain, the show's Superman and Clark Kent--and
that unlike Jonathan Brandis, a star of 'Sea Quest,'
Mr. Landes had not become a teen-age heartthrob,
attracting younger viewers.
"For obvious reasons, it was not thought advisable to
eliminate the Jimmy Olsen character and substitute a
similar one with a different name. 'It wasn't Michael's
fault at all,' said Mr. Singer. 'He's a terrific kid
who did everything that was asked of him. But now
there's a cleaner separation between Dean and Justin.'
Better still, says a hopeful Warner Brothers Television
publicist, Mr. Whalin is getting interview requests
from teen-age fan magazines like Sixteen and Tiger
Beat."
9. CHANGES IN THE SHOW FOR THE THIRD SEASON.
"Lois & Clark" also underwent a number of changes "behind the
scenes before the start of the third season. To summarize:
Supervising Producers Tony Blake and Paul Jackson were replaced
by Eugenie Ross-Lemming and Brad Buckner. John
McNamara who wrote "Top Copy," "Wall of Sound," "Church
of Metropolis" and co-wrote "Whine, Whine, Whine" with Kathy
McCormick, stayed on, as did Chris Ruppenthal ("Lucky
Leon," "Individual Responsibility").
Randall Zisk, co-executive producer of L&C through the
romance arc (episodes #13-#22) left to produce
Robert Singer's new show, "Charlie Grace." Mr. Zisk was
replaced by line producer Jimmy Simmons (#16-#22)
10. LISTSERV ETIQUETTE AND ALPHABET SOUP (OR: DO
"FOLCS" AND "SPOCKs" SUFFER FROM "LCWS")?
If you are a new member of the mailing list, we ask you to
consider the following "rules."
A. Introductions.
Please introduce yourself to the list! You may lurk quietly
the rest of the time (though everyone is encourage to participate),
but please post something about yourself at least once, so we know
you are there.
B. Flames and personal attacks.
Short answer. They aren't allowed. We try to get along
here.
C. "Spoilers."
Spoiler warnings help listmembers who have not seen a new episode
avoid messages that might "give away" the episode's plot. The typical
practice is to put a spoiler warning in the topic or first few lines
of your
message to avoid inadvertently revealing plot points to listmembers
who
have not yet seen the episode. The informal rule is that messages to
the
list with "spoiler" content should be preceded by spoiler warnings at
least
through the Tuesday following the episode's premiere.
D. Acronyms.
New listmembers may be baffled by the alphabet soup of acronyms
that fly around the list. Most of these acronyms started on the
Internet
mailing list but have caught on in other places as well. Expect to
see
some of the following:
FOLCs = Fans of Lois and Clark
LCWS = Lois and Clark Withdrawal Syndrome (a sickness that afflicts
FOLCs during the show's all-too-frequent preemptions)
TPTB = The Powers That Be (typically a reference to the producers
and the network)
SWOCK=Shallow Women Ogling Clark Kent
SPOCK = Shallow People Ogling Clark Kent
MATH=Men Admiring Teri Hatcher
PATHETIC=People Admiring Teri Hatcher, Even Though It's Crazy
TDOLL=Tireless Defenders of Lois Lane
WAFF=Warm and Fuzzy Feeling
Episode titles also tend to be quickly reduced to acronyms. You
may wish to consult the episode title list in section 12 when the
turns
to, for example, the relative merits of "GGGoH" and "TEHI."
Mike Williams (mrwi...@bart.cnac.gov) compiles and maintains the
unofficial "L&C Acronym List" which itself goes by the acronym
"LNCAL."
Mike's list is also available on the Web at:
http://www.cnac.gov/~mrwilla/lncal.html.
E. Combining posts.
This list generates a tremendous amount of mail (some tips for
managing
the message volume can be found in section 15). Listmembers are
strongly
urged to avoid "me too" or "I agree" messages, and to combine their
posts
into multiple topic messages whenever possible.