Greg responds...

The two biggest things that you can do to revive the show are (a) attend the Gathering and (b) buy the DVD when it comes out later this year. Show Disney that you're willing to spend money to get more Gargoyles, and they'll take notice.

As for Vinnie's humming, that was my idea. Glad you liked it.

Greg responds...

Isn't this old news? Anyway, to toot my own horn yet again:

I headed the development team that created the series and came up with many of the characters and concepts myself.

I came up with all 66 original springboards (i.e. the story ideas for the first two seasons + "The Journey"), though many people contributed nuggets of ideas.

I supervised all the writing. In essence, I story edited the story editors.

I also wrote and story edited one episode myself ("The Journey").

I supervised all the voice recordings. And I voice directed one episode ("Vendettas"), plus a few pick-up and phone patch sessions. I even performed the voice for one of Xanatos' Goon Squad (the guy who says "Nice Mask!").

I had input on all aspects of design and direction

I co-supervised all post-production, except the tele-cine process, which involves aspects of color too subtle for my color-deficient eyes.

I was the one person involved with the show from it's inception through the end of the third season, though my involvement in the third season (after "The Journey" was voice recorded) was limited to consulting work. And much of my consultations were ignored.

I have no credit on the television version of the pilot 5-parter because I was still an executive when those were posted, and at the time executives did not receive credit. I do have a Co-Producer credit on the Movie/VHS version of the pilot, because I supervised the post-production on that.

My official credit on the rest of the first season was "Co-Producer".

My official credit on the second season began as "Producer". Later it became "Supervising Producer" when two of our directors were promoted to Producer.

I'm also the credited "Writer" and "Story Editor" on "The Journey" and the credited "Voice Director" on "Vendettas".

I was supposed to receive a credit on the third season, but I waved it because it seemed dishonest as much of my advice wasn't taken.

Having said ALL THAT, Gargoyles was the work of literally hundreds of talented people, all of whom contributed to making it the success that it was. I think of it as my baby, and I'm often credited as it's creator. But I never lose track of the fact that it was a team effort.

Greg responds...

It makes sense enough.

I put a lot of me into every character from the best to the worst. Sometimes, I get pretty literal, as with Vinnie's last speeches in "The Journey".

Usually, it's not quite so on the nose.

I tend not to envy them much. My life (if not my career) is pretty darn great, so there isn't one of them I'd like to change places with. But I do empathize with them a lot. A lot.

Greg responds...

Nope.

And I never said that S&P didn't play a role. I said we had a common sense S&P person, Adrienne Bello, whom we respected and who respected us and what we were trying to do.

That didn't mean that she'd let us show Sevarius amputating Hyena's arm on camera.

Greg responds...

You're not a weirdo, you simply don't seem to understand that I have absolutely no control over when and where the reruns air.

Greg responds...

Yes. Again. Disney owns 100% of Gargoyles. They don't sell their properties, and even if they did -- WHICH THEY DON'T -- the cost would be way prohibitive.

I don't know if they were stupid to pull the plug after Goliath Chronicles. I'm not sure they exercised much smarts in pushing me out the door prior to Chronicles, but that's a VERY complicated story and in any case, should be attributed to individuals who no longer even work for the Mouse. Including me.

I also think, unfortunately, that you're wrong about other networks like the WB wanting the show. It's a moot issue, because Disney won't sell, but I see no indication that there is a single network out there looking for something like Gargoyles. No indication at all. Gargoyles has the greatest fans in the world, and I'm hoping that the DVD release will make enough of a splash and attract fans, both old and new, to wake people up to the possibilities that the series represents.

In the meantime, I haven't given up trying to get the property up and running again in some way, shape or form, and publishing (comics or novels) is something I'm extremely interested in.

As for the fans, the best thing they can do -- at least until the DVD's release -- is to come to the Gathering (our annual Gargoyles Fan Convention), this August, 2004 in Montreal.

Check out their website:

http://www.gatheringofthegargoyles.com/

The more fans that show up to the convention, the greater our collective voice, the more likely that Disney takes notice.

Finally, I've answered the 9/11 question many times. Check the archives.

Greg responds...

Well, I don't usually go to links, but I did this time. But of course two years have passed (or nearly) and the page is no longer there.

So I don't know what to tell you. We made occassional changes, but not many sound changes between first airings and the subsequent reruns in syndication. But maybe you're comparing first airings with cable airings -- all of which aired AFTER I left Disney.

Both USA Network and Toon Disney edited the shows themselves, (the former for length and the latter for S&P). That may have forced them to make some sound changes, though it seems unlikely that they'd spend the money on a new mix.

Greg responds...

Gargoyles would not exist without Disney. Period.

You speak as if Gargoyles existed in a vacuum -- perhaps in the vacuum of my mind?

In fact, Gargoyles was created by me and by my development team while I was a development executive (Director of Series Development) at Walt Disney Television Animation. Aside from the fact that Disney owns the show, it also was the catalyst for the series' very existence.

After the fact, you could say: "Gee, how much more freedom might you have had on HBO." But that assumes so much. (1) That HBO would have wanted it. (2) That HBO would have actually given me more freedom than Disney did. (3) That I wanted more freedom. I doubt the first two would have been true. I know the last one is not.

With very, VERY few exceptions, I got to do what I wanted on the first 65 episodes of the show. I think we made an epic collection of episodes.

I'd love to write GARGOYLES Novels if I could find an interested publisher. I haven't been able to.

Greg responds...

No. They were just trying to get their heads around his death. The Wind Ceremony would have come later.

The story was inspired by an idea by Lee Nordling in a Gargoyles story he did in an issue of Disney Adventures Magazine. It was his idea (though he used Goliath, not Hudson) to have Xanatos replace a sleeping gargoyle with a stone statue to fool the rest of the clan.

That was the only thing from his story that we used, and I've never even met Lee, but it was a great idea.

Greg responds...

The similarities aren't entirely coincidental, in that both were written by Michael Reaves.

As I recall, the springboard for "Grief" was mine, but Michael ran with it -- putting some stuff in "Grief" that he had WANTED to put in "Avatar" but which had NOT made it into the final version of that episode.

Greg responds...

Check the ASK GREG FAQ and Archives.

Greg responds...

1. No. Sorry. It's a special treat for Gathering attendees, and I don't want the story in it to become common currency. I still have hopes of selling it someday.

2. A leica reel can be many things. The spelling suggests it has something to do with a Leica camera, but I've been assured that it really is code for IT'S LIKE-A REEL. It's also sometimes called an ANIMATIC or SIZZLE TAPE. There is no true animation, though I've seen some recent stuff using flash. It's basically a filmed storyboard, with a few fancy editing tricks, like panning, scanning, pushing in, pulling out and maybe a few dissolves or wipes. That's put with actual recorded vocals and hopefully some music and sound effects. It's an effective way to tell a story, like a glorified comic book for the screen. But it's supposed to be done for a relatively small amount of money. A few thousand dollars as opposed to tens of thousands of dollars.

3. It depends. Some are very detailed some are very sketchy.

4. Again, it depends. I think BAD GUYS runs about 7 minutes, which is probably too long for anyone but garg fans.

Or maybe you can come see it in Montreal in August of '04.

Greg responds...

That was "Future Tense". But I'm not sure how to answer your question beyond the obvious that we thought it would make a VERY powerful story, while furthering a number of our subplots. We also had some thought of doing the episode in 3D (though I honestly can't tell you if that meant computer animation or the kind of 3D where you put on special glasses and the pictures seem to jump off the screen. At the time, I thought we were talking about the latter, but it now occurs to me that some of the people in the room might have been talking about the former. No wonder, we couldn't pull it off.)

Greg responds...

Not to toot my own horn (or at least not to toot it anymore than I usually do), but the intent to create this tapestry was mine -- and pretty much from the very beginning, though I had no idea whether the opportunity would continue to present itself.

In terms of actually creating the tapestry, I had MUCH help. The obvious culprits include our story editors Michael Reaves, Brynne Chandler Reaves, Gary Sperling and Cary Bates. Many writers obviously contributed as well, especially Lydia Marano.

We had a couple of contributing researchers: Monique Beatty and Tuppence Macintyre.

And lots of other people threw in ideas as well, especially my partner Frank Paur and our co-producer/directors Dennis Woodyard and Bob Kline.

Some of the tapestry was serendipitous. Much was planned WAY in advance. Often both luck and planning came into play.

Mostly, we just wanted to tell good stories and this simply helped.

Greg responds...

I don't think hardly anyone who comes here is still wondering that, since it's been answered over and over. Check out the FAQ. (But, yes, the staff was almost completely different.)

Greg responds...

Both.

Greg responds...

Well, for starters, learn to proofread.

After that, you'll need to be more specific. What do you want to produce? What do you want to direct?

Still, my best advise, I guess, is to attend a good film school. I didn't, but playing percentages, that seems to work best.

Greg responds...

Very planned.

Greg responds...

Largely, yes. It's artistic license. Unless we had a specific reason why the moon shouldn't be full, as in "Hunter's Moon, Parts One and Two", then we tended to let it be full because it looked cooler.

Also keep in mind, I didn't have the detailed timeline then that I have now. So it's not like we were tracking the phases of the moon.

Greg responds...

I don't think that's true.

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

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

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

Greg responds...

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

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

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

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

Greg responds...

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

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

Like I said, just not a fan.

Greg responds...

No, actually I didn't. I was planning to, but it was made VERY clear to me that Disney wasn't interested in any Garg spin-off at this time. So I'm saving it until the wind changes. To mix a metaphor, there's no sense poisoning the water on a perfectly good idea with a group of execs that are determined not to like it. I'd rather pitch it fresh when personnel or strategies have changed.

Greg responds...

I have been trying non-stop since 1995. I've even gotten (or helped to get) a few things on the air, including Max Steel and Roughnecks. But it's hard.