Gygax to be on FUTURAMA in May!
John R. Troy
Just as a little bit of notice, Gary Gygax will be appearing as
himself next May in the Season Finale of FUTURAMA, along with some
other guest stars like David Duchovny and Steven Hawkings. The
episode is called "Anthology of Interest I".
Gary recorded the voice over a special phone hookup, and he's pleased
to be part of the episode. According to Gary, AD&D books are in the
producer's "Inspirational Library", and they shared ancedotes between
takes.
Christian Conkle
On a similar note, last night's Futurama included a visit to the
Veterinarian. In the waiting room was a Rust Monster (1st edition
drawing with whirligig tail)!
I laughed my ass off and my girlfriend stared at me bewildered. I wish
I had my old books to show her the picture. Alas.
--
-----------------------------------------------------
Christian Conkle
Web Developer - National Committee for Quality Assurance
con...@mecha.com - con...@early.com - con...@ncqa.org
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Matt Goodman
original to DnD, isn't it?
Matt
Patrick M. Berry
>
> Just as a little bit of notice, Gary Gygax will be appearing as
> himself next May in the Season Finale of FUTURAMA, along with some
> other guest stars like David Duchovny and Steven Hawkings.
Is he appearing as his own severed head, kept alive in a jar?
Chris Herborth
> On a similar note, last night's Futurama included a visit to the
> Veterinarian. In the waiting room was a Rust Monster (1st edition
> drawing with whirligig tail)!
It was on a leash held by a robot, who looked kinda rusty and run-down,
too...
--
----------================================================---------- _
Chris Herborth, R&D, Technical Writing | \ _
Arcane Dragon Software Arcane Dragon -==(UDIC)==- | < /_\
arcane dragon at home dot com DNRC Holder of Past Knowledge |_/ \_
Luke
Matt Goodman <mg...@heliograph.com> writes
>On last night's Futurama, they had a rust monster at the Vet's. That's
>original to DnD, isn't it?
yknow, this has been said about five or six times already... :)
--
RabbitLugh "Hello, I am Sidhain, and I know everything about mythology...
NOT!!!!!!!" - Sidhain
Peter Meilinger
: On last night's Futurama, they had a rust monster at the Vet's. That's
: original to DnD, isn't it?
My pal Bill Svitavsky (who's recovering nicely, thanks for asking -
don't ever kiss a weedwhacker, even on a dare: that's a tip from
your Uncle Pete) claims to have owned a plastic monster that looked
EXACTLY like the D&D Rust Monster back before D&D first appeared.
His claim was shown to have some merit a few months back when we
found bags of plastic monsters for sale at a local Osco drug store.
There was one Rust Monster and a Bulette and I think another D&D
monster in there. He said it was the exact same assortment he used
to own way back when, so maybe someone's producing them again. I
don't know.
But apparently, while the Rust Monster concept and powers were
original to D&D, the appearance was created by someone else.
Pete
Alan Kellogg
Matt Goodman <mg...@heliograph.com> wrote:
> On last night's Futurama, they had a rust monster at the Vet's. That's
> original to DnD, isn't it?
>
> Matt
Pretty much.
Alan
--
You can't be a figment of my imagination,
I would've done a better job. A Nonny Mouse
Christian Conkle
mell...@bu.edu (Peter Meilinger) wrote:
> Matt Goodman (mg...@heliograph.com) wrote:
> : On last night's Futurama, they had a rust monster at the Vet's. That's
> : original to DnD, isn't it?
>
> don't ever kiss a weedwhacker, even on a dare: that's a tip from
> your Uncle Pete) claims to have owned a plastic monster that looked
> EXACTLY like the D&D Rust Monster back before D&D first appeared.
> His claim was shown to have some merit a few months back when we
> found bags of plastic monsters for sale at a local Osco drug store.
> There was one Rust Monster and a Bulette and I think another D&D
> monster in there. He said it was the exact same assortment he used
> to own way back when, so maybe someone's producing them again. I
> don't know.
>
> But apparently, while the Rust Monster concept and powers were
> original to D&D, the appearance was created by someone else.
>
> Pete
>
I can somewhat confirm this, for I, too, remember seeing the plastic
Rust Monster and Bullette toys way back in the Seventies when I was a
wee pup back in Georgia.
It's not suprising that a teenaged game artist would turn to
conveniently available and unnamed weird monster toys for inspiration
for weird previously unimagined monsters. Especially if the original DM
was using said plastic toys as miniatures for his game.
However, considering the other evidence, Simpson artists propensity for
D&D in-jokes (I'm the Mathemagician, with a million hit points and
MAXimum Charisma), and the aforementioned Gygax spot, I'd say we got us
some gamer animators.
Christopher Adams
> D&D in-jokes (I'm the Mathemagician, with a million hit points and
> MAXimum Charisma)
I have to ask. Are there two versions of this damn scene? Because the only one
I've ever seen features Martin Prince as the Wizard of Latin, in the Treehouse
of Horror episode where Groundskeeper Willie does the Freddy Krueger thing, and
I know it is so because the whole point of the joke is that Willie says, "Mori -
*you* die."
--
Christopher Adams
A man of no fortune, and with a name to come.
Vice-President SUTEKH 2000
Librarian PAGUS 2000
"There can be only" ONE WAY
- Street sign, Highlander Lane, Melbourne
"You wash your mouth out with - Hank!"
- Hank Kingsley, "The Larry Sanders Show"
Christian Conkle
"Christopher Adams" <ad...@syd.comcen.com.au> wrote:
(I'm the Mathemagician, with a million hit points and
> > MAXimum Charisma)
>
> I have to ask. Are there two versions of this damn scene? Because the
only one
> I've ever seen features Martin Prince as the Wizard of Latin, in the
Treehouse
> of Horror episode where Groundskeeper Willie does the Freddy Krueger
thing, and
> I know it is so because the whole point of the joke is that Willie
says, "Mori -
> *you* die."
>
You're probably right. I can't remember the exact wording, but it was
Martin Prince.
Actually, the Mathemagician was from Electric Company, and from a fake
commercial on Dexter's Laboratory.
Patrick M. Berry
> I can somewhat confirm this, for I, too, remember seeing the plastic
> Rust Monster and Bullette toys way back in the Seventies when I was a
> wee pup back in Georgia.
They're still widely available, in a collection of plastic "prehistoric
creatures" that I see all the time in grocery and discount stores --
anywhere that cheap toys are sold.
Patrick M. Berry
> However, considering the other evidence, Simpson artists propensity for
> D&D in-jokes (I'm the Mathemagician, with a million hit points and
> MAXimum Charisma), and the aforementioned Gygax spot, I'd say we got us
> some gamer animators.
They're not just gamers; they're geeks. Middle-aged geeks, in fact. They
seem to delight in inserting little jokes for the benefit of viewers who
remember obscure geeky trivia from the '70s and '80s. For example, in
"Fear of a Bot Planet," the robots chasing Fry and Leela were spouting
sound clips from the old Berzerk video game ("Get the humanoid!" "Get the
intruder!"). And in "I, Roommate," a framed cross-stitch piece on the wall
read:
10 HOME
20 SWEET
30 GOTO 10
which is unlikely to mean anything except to those of us who actually wrote
BASIC programs back in the days when they still had line numbers.
The rust monster was consistent with that. You weren't likely to recognize it
unless you had seen the illustration in the 1st Edition Monster Manual, so it
was an inside joke for middle-aged gamers. (My children recognized it, but
only because I've shown them the 1st Edition picture.)
Arivne
Christian Conkle wrote:
>
<snip>
>
> However, considering the other evidence, Simpson artists propensity for
> D&D in-jokes (I'm the Mathemagician, with a million hit points and
> MAXimum Charisma), and the aforementioned Gygax spot, I'd say we got us
> some gamer animators.
>
> --
> -----------------------------------------------------
> Christian Conkle
<snip sig>
Isn't "Mathemagician" a "Phantom Tollbooth" in-joke? ;-)
Arivne
Chris Herborth
> > However, considering the other evidence, Simpson artists propensity for
> > D&D in-jokes (I'm the Mathemagician, with a million hit points and
>
> I have to ask. Are there two versions of this damn scene? Because the only one
> I've ever seen features Martin Prince as the Wizard of Latin, in the Treehouse
> of Horror episode where Groundskeeper Willie does the Freddy Krueger thing, and
> I know it is so because the whole point of the joke is that Willie says, "Mori -
> *you* die."
Martin was the "Wizard of Latin" (w/a million hit points and maximum
charisma); the Mathemagician was performing at Martin's birthday party in
the episode where Principal Skinner and Mrs. Crabapple started going out.
(I mostly watch way too many cartoons on TV; "real" sitcoms aren't nearly
as funny or, oddly enough, realistic.)
brian e keenan
>They're not just gamers; they're geeks. Middle-aged geeks, in fact. They
>seem to delight in inserting little jokes for the benefit of viewers who
>remember obscure geeky trivia from the '70s and '80s. For example, in
>"Fear of a Bot Planet," the robots chasing Fry and Leela were spouting
>sound clips from the old Berzerk video game ("Get the humanoid!" "Get the
>intruder!"). And in "I, Roommate," a framed cross-stitch piece on the wall
>read:
>10 HOME
>20 SWEET
>30 GOTO 10
>which is unlikely to mean anything except to those of us who actually wrote
>BASIC programs back in the days when they still had line numbers.
>The rust monster was consistent with that. You weren't likely to recognize it
>unless you had seen the illustration in the 1st Edition Monster Manual, so it
>was an inside joke for middle-aged gamers. (My children recognized it, but
>only because I've shown them the 1st Edition picture.)
I seem to remember another joke from the Bot planet episode. There was a
sign that read:
C:\ DOS
C:\ DOS RUN
(At least, I think that's where it was from).
Brian Keenan
hern...@bhiinc.com
bags with other dinosaur plastic figures. When I was a kid I was big
into dinosaurs and these two figures always perplexed me as I knew
that they weren't dinosaurs. It wasn't later until I started AD&D that
I found out what they were.
On Tue, 23 Nov 1999 00:34:31 GMT, Christian Conkle
<con...@my-deja.com> wrote:
>In article <81cb0l$m22$1...@news1.bu.edu>,
> mell...@bu.edu (Peter Meilinger) wrote:
>> Matt Goodman (mg...@heliograph.com) wrote:
>> : On last night's Futurama, they had a rust monster at the Vet's. That's
>> : original to DnD, isn't it?
>>
>> My pal Bill Svitavsky (who's recovering nicely, thanks for asking -
>> don't ever kiss a weedwhacker, even on a dare: that's a tip from
>> your Uncle Pete) claims to have owned a plastic monster that looked
>> EXACTLY like the D&D Rust Monster back before D&D first appeared.
>> His claim was shown to have some merit a few months back when we
>> found bags of plastic monsters for sale at a local Osco drug store.
>> There was one Rust Monster and a Bulette and I think another D&D
>> monster in there. He said it was the exact same assortment he used
>> to own way back when, so maybe someone's producing them again. I
>> don't know.
>>
>> But apparently, while the Rust Monster concept and powers were
>> original to D&D, the appearance was created by someone else.
>>
>> Pete
>>
>
>I can somewhat confirm this, for I, too, remember seeing the plastic
>Rust Monster and Bullette toys way back in the Seventies when I was a
>wee pup back in Georgia.
>
>It's not suprising that a teenaged game artist would turn to
>conveniently available and unnamed weird monster toys for inspiration
>for weird previously unimagined monsters. Especially if the original DM
>was using said plastic toys as miniatures for his game.
>
>However, considering the other evidence, Simpson artists propensity for
>D&D in-jokes (I'm the Mathemagician, with a million hit points and
>MAXimum Charisma), and the aforementioned Gygax spot, I'd say we got us
>some gamer animators.
>
>
>--
>-----------------------------------------------------
>Christian Conkle
Alan Kellogg
> I can also confirm this. I used to get these two plastic figures in
> bags with other dinosaur plastic figures. When I was a kid I was big
> into dinosaurs and these two figures always perplexed me as I knew
> that they weren't dinosaurs. It wasn't later until I started AD&D that
> I found out what they were.
Back when DnD was young Gary and his then young son, Luke would make trips
to the local five and dime, where they would get bags of toy figures. Gary
saw the bulette and rust monster (at that time unnamed), and thought
they'd make neat DnD monsters. This from private correspondence.
You can always ask him at, <ggy...@genevaonline.com>.
michael
news:81f13v$qbp$1...@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu...
No, it was on a shirt that the comic book store/star trek freak was wearing
in one of the Simspons' episodes. It actually said
C:\DOS
C:\DOS RUN
RUN DOS RUN
I actually have a colleague who wears that shirt about twice a week. He
thinks that it is just great.
--michael
Charles Frederick Goodin
Patrick M. Berry <ber...@aur.alcatel.com> wrote:
>In article <81cnen$rmn$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>, Christian Conkle
><con...@my-deja.com> writes:
>
>> D&D in-jokes (I'm the Mathemagician, with a million hit points and
>> MAXimum Charisma), and the aforementioned Gygax spot, I'd say we got us
>> some gamer animators.
>
>seem to delight in inserting little jokes for the benefit of viewers who
>remember obscure geeky trivia from the '70s and '80s. For example, in
>"Fear of a Bot Planet," the robots chasing Fry and Leela were spouting
>sound clips from the old Berzerk video game ("Get the humanoid!" "Get the
>intruder!"). And in "I, Roommate," a framed cross-stitch piece on the wall
>read:
>
>10 HOME
>20 SWEET
>30 GOTO 10
>
>which is unlikely to mean anything except to those of us who actually wrote
>BASIC programs back in the days when they still had line numbers.
>
>The rust monster was consistent with that. You weren't likely to recognize it
>unless you had seen the illustration in the 1st Edition Monster Manual, so it
>was an inside joke for middle-aged gamers. (My children recognized it, but
>only because I've shown them the 1st Edition picture.)
Middle-aged? Hey, I'm only 29, and I would have picked up all those
references!
I'm gonna have to start watching more TV...
--
chuk