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Anon writes...

Have you ever considered just throwing out questions that ask for spoilers, or that just ask the same question over and over? After all it's already done with questions that violate the guidelines. It would certainly be a less frustrating approach for you.

Greg responds...

It would, wouldn't it. We have considered other options, but I hate to change the format of this forum. It's worked pretty well for us for like over a decade now. And things have gotten (marginally) better since we reopened in September. If it gets worse again, I may have to change the ASK GREG policy, but for now, Gore and Todd and I are keeping things as is.

Response recorded on October 31, 2011

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ASK GREG & YJ UPDATE

ASK GREG & YJ UPDATE

Gorebash, Todd and I will be opening up Ask Greg for questions and comments again on September 16th, 2011 - i.e. the day that the next new episode of Young Justice airs.

I would, as usual, ask a few favors...

1. Please check the, ASK GREG FAQ, the ASK GREG ARCHIVES AND the questions in the queue ahead of you BEFORE posting. It only slows down the queue for everyone if I get the same question asked over and over again.

2. To save more time, both for you AND for me, consider asking your question FIRST of the knowledgeable fans at the STATION 8 COMMENT ROOM: http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/comment/index.php

3. Resist the urge to ask for spoilers. I'm not going to spoil my own show. So asking only slows down the queue.

4. Please be polite. You don't have to like my work, but you should be able to critique it without being rude. And please REFRAIN FROM ASSUMING that your argument is going to be SO convincing that I will admit that my own work sucks. WE LIKE OUR SHOW. You don't have to, but you're not going to convince me that I don't.

YJ UPDATE
FIRST SEASON
101-109 have all aired.
110 was previewed at Comic-Con and will premiere on Cartoon Network on September 16th.
111-119 are also in the can, i.e. totally completed and ready for airing.
120-123 are all in post-production. Today we previewed the music for 120, and spotted the music for 121.
124-126 are still being animated.

SECOND SEASON
201 is shipping to Korea at the end of the week.
202 is in timing.
203 is in storyboard clean-ups.
204 is waiting for board notes.
205-206 are in storyboard.
207 records tomorrow.
208-210 are all in script.
211-220 have been approved into production. Brandon Vietti, Kevin Hopps and myself spent the last week (including Saturday) breaking the last six episodes (one per day). We are pitching the arc of the season to DC, CN and WB this Wednesday. Assuming that goes well, we'll have our first writer's meeting to assign 211-214 on Thursday. I have beatsheets completed on 211-216. Have to write up the beatsheets for 217-220, but I've got all the beats on index cards, so it's just a matter of finding the time to transcribe them into a document.

That's it for now. See you all on the 16th of September!

gdw


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SO WHERE HAVE I BEEN? Updates & Debunks

Hello everyone,

Haven't posted here in a while, and since I did a bit of message board lurking this morning, it seems to have led people to believe all sorts of odd things, so...

Where have I been?

Well, in early June, my family and I went to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon.
We saw seven plays in four days. Six of them (Henry IV, Part Two, The Language Archive, To Kill a Mockingbird, Julius Caesar, Love's Labours Lost and Measure for Measure) were just stellar productions. Everyone was great, but I'd like to particularly single out Susannah Flood in both Language Archive and Mockingbird, Dee Maaske in Mockingbird and Michael Winters as Falstaff in 2HenryIV.

Coming back from that, I was understandably swamped and didn't have time to post.

Next, I went to Minneapolis for the always great ConVergence convention. I did about thirteen panels. Some of which, like Gargoyles and Spider-Man and Young Justice, I felt qualified to be on. And some, like Dexter and Galaxy Quest, my only qualification was being a fan of whatever we were talking about. This was my third ConVergence, and it continues to be the best run convention I've ever attended. And now that the Gathering of the Gargoyles is no more, it has become my FAVORITE convention to attend.

Returning from ConVergence, I then got quite ill. In fact, I'm still home sick today. (Home sick as opposed to homesick, clear?)

So THOSE are the reasons I haven't posted. Nothing nefarious.

Next topic: YOUNG JUSTICE UPDATE.

We have aired episodes 101-109 (i.e. Season One, episodes 1-9).

(Yes, episode 110 accidentally was posted on Cartoon Network's website, but I'm going to pretend that never happened.)

Episodes 110-115 are in the can, i.e. they are completed and ready to air.

Episode 116 awaits only the final on-line, i.e. the final review of the episode. This has been delayed ONLY because I've been out sick this week.

Episode 117 will have it's sound mix on Friday. (I hope to be back at work by then.)

Episode 118 has been edited and work progresses on scoring and sound effects.

Episode 119 is ready to begin post-production.

Episodes 120-123 are being animated in Korea.

Episodes 124-126 are in layout in Korea, while we finish the final color models here in the States.

Episodes 201-202 (i.e. Season Two, Episodes one and two) - Are fully recorded and are in storyboard. (201 was written by me. 202 by Nicole Dubuc.)

Episode 203, written by Kevin Hopps, is almost fully recorded. We have one actor left to pick up, who has been out of town. It is also in storyboard.

Episode 204, written by me, will record this week. It is also in storyboard.

Episode 205 - Brandon Vietti, has turned in his draft of the script. I have to read and edit it.

Episode 206 - The outline, written by Peter David and edited by me, went out Monday for notes, which are due tomorrow.

Episode 207 - Kevin Hopps turned in his outline, which I need to read and edit.

Episode 208 - I'm writing this one. I'll start the outline, after I've edited the outline to 207.

Episode 209 - Jon Weisman turned in his outline, which I need to read and edit.

Episode 210 - Kevin Hopps is working on his outline.

We do NOT yet have a pick-up beyond episode 210, but our bosses have told us to start blocking out episodes 211-220 in anticipation of one.

Episode 211 - We've broken this story. I still need to find time to write up the Beat Outline, though I have it all on index cards.

Episode 212 - We've got the basics of this one down, but we (i.e. myself, Brandon and Kevin) still need to finish breaking the story.

Episodes 213-220 - We've got a very clear sense of the arc and what things need to happen, but we haven't started on these yet.

NEXT TOPIC: DEBUNKING YJ RUMORS

False Rumor #1: YJ IS A GREG WEISMAN PRODUCTION
Everywhere on the Internet, all I see is that YJ is Greg Weisman's show. That's just blatantly false. This is a VIETTI/WEISMAN production. Just as Spectacular Spider-Man was a COOK/WEISMAN production and Gargoyles was a PAUR/WEISMAN production. I am not, nor have I ever been, a one-man show on ANY project I've EVER worked on. EVER. And in particular, on YJ, it's extremely unfair to Brandon to leave him out of consideration. Brandon is heavily involved in every aspect of production, INCLUDING SERIES DEVELOPMENT AND STORY. He's been right there with myself and Kevin Hopps breaking every single episode. It's been a team effort from day one. Many of the series' best ideas came/come from Brandon. And this is aside from the fact, that of course, Brandon can write - but I cannot draw, which arguably makes him MORE important to the production than I. I am exceedingly proud of this series and my own work on it - though certain very vocal fans seem to think I shouldn't be - but that doesn't change the fact that Brandon and I are a team.

False Rumor #2: YJ WAS RUSHED INTO PRODUCTION
Another blatant misconception. Look, Brandon and I are both perfectionists. Neither of us would deny that we'd LOVE to have more time on each and every episode. But that's not the same as being rushed. Let's make a comparison: on Spectacular Spider-Man, I basically had one week to develop both the series and the entire first season. Then Vic Cook came aboard, and we raced to get into production in less than two months. Brandon and I had seven months to develop the series, break the first season (which granted had twice as many episodes as the first season of Spidey) and head into production. The show isn't and never has been rushed. That's not to say the schedule isn't tight. But we haven't aired a single episode that wasn't ready to air. And we won't.

False Rumor #3: YJ ISN'T AIRING NOW BECAUSE WE'RE REWORKING EPISODES BASED ON INTERNET CRITICISM
This is my favorite. I love it the most because the first person I saw who posted this rumor also said that I'd deny it. So here I am denying it, which of course serves to PROVE that he or she was correct, see? Let's be clear: for better or worse, this series is COMPLETELY unaffected by internet criticism BECAUSE of schedule. Everything of any significance was set and DONE before even the pilot movie aired last November, so we couldn't address fan concerns even if we wanted to. And, honestly, we don't want to. We don't in part because there is way less consensus than some people seem to think. For example, for every post I see expressing hatred for "Hello, Megan!", I see a post that likes it. And personally, I like it. Brandon likes it. So why would we change it, even if we could? In fact, even Season Two is moving forward more or less disregarding "fan" criticism. Brandon and I always had very clear ideas for what we wanted to do in Season Two (and even Season Three, should we get one) and those ideas haven't changed. As with every series I've co-helmed, all we can ever do is write and produce to OUR OWN passions - and then just cross our fingers and hope enough people share our passions to make it a success. Anything else is doomed to failure, because if we're not passionate about it, it'll show in the work, and then no one will like it. And just to make it clear: WE LIKE OUR SHOW!! Doesn't mean you have to - but don't try to tell me I don't.

So why aren't we airing new episodes now? That's a fair question that I don't have an answer for. After all, we have six unaired episodes in the can, with four more on the verge of completion. It's a Cartoon Network decision. Some fans have argued that they shouldn't have started airing ANY episodes until ALL episodes were in the can. But that too is a decision above my pay grade.

My best guess - and that's all it is - is that CN will air new episodes - starting with 110 ("Targets") - in September. The good news is that the later they wait, the more weeks they can go uninterrupted by reruns. I do know that Season Two (i.e. "Young Justice: Invasion") will begin airing as part of DC NATION in March of 2012. And by then ALL of Season One will have aired. So do the math.

People have asked me if I'm bummed about losing momentum by this delay. But the thing is we've ALREADY lost all momentum. So as long as they PROMOTE us whenever they finally do start airing us again, then pragmatically I'm good. Yes, I'll admit to a certain level of frustration in that I want our stuff to get out there, but if CN has a plan to make the most of the episodes, then more power to them.

Anyway, I think that's it for now. I'll get back to answering questions on ASK GREG as soon as I can find the time. (But keep in mind that San Diego Comic-Con is fast approaching. Note: Young Justice has a panel scheduled for Sunday, July 24th at 10am, with a signing to follow. I'll also be signing Gargoyles comics (and whatever else anyone might want) at the SLG Booth from 11:30am to 12:30pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (July 21, 22, 23).


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The King 171 writes...

OMG i have been reading some of the unanswered questions and i dont understand why people are asking you these questions that they should know your not going to answer... i mean they should know you are not going to spoil the show

so my question is are you able to delete questions instead of answering one that is asking you to spoil the show?

Greg responds...

I can delete any question I want. But that's not policy here. Questions are only deleted if they present original ideas.

I'm considering changing the policy. Haven't decided.

Response recorded on May 26, 2011

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DC Hero writes...

Hey Greg sorry for the spelling mistakes in the past question.

Greg responds...

Uh... okay.

Response recorded on May 26, 2011

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none of my business writes...

OK Greg so I know its none of my business obviously but I was wondering what sort of legal issues could you be talking about when you said Todd Jensen will approve the questions and just who the heck is Todd anyway I just wanna know

Greg responds...

Todd Jensen is a Gargoyles fan, whom I've known on-line for over a decade now and met in person at the 2001 Gathering. He's a VOLUNTEEER, who has kindly agreed to vet questions for me to make sure no one is posting an original idea that I could get sued over. If you want more information on THAT, how about you actually READ the main Introduction page at Ask Greg, which spells all this out in detail:

http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/index.php

You know, instead of cluttering up the queue by asking a question you could have EASILY gotten the answer for faster elsewhere.

Response recorded on May 17, 2011

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None of my business writes...

Hey greg why does Todd Jensen approve a whole bunch of questions if you're just going to say no comment. I guess this question is really meant for both you and Todd, so Todd if you're reading this please approve my post I got to know

Greg responds...

Todd's (VOLUNTEER) job is NOT to edit questions, but to kick out questions that break the rules that protect me legally. I don't think it's fair to Todd to ask him to ALSO make editorial judgments about what questions I will or won't answer.

The "No Comment" responses could almost entirely be avoided if people would post with some degree of common sense. That's on them, not on Todd.

Response recorded on May 17, 2011

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GargWiki

We're back, baby!

That's right. The official GargWiki has been down for quite some time with server issues. But Gorebash, our host here at Station 8 has provided a new home for us. So check out: http://gargwiki.net/Main_Page

Most of what you might want to ask me (and thus needlessly crowd the queue here at ASK GREG) about Gargoyles is already easily available in this very smart-looking and user-friendly wiki.

I myself participate in keeping it honest and utilize it as a resource all the time.

Again, that's:

http://gargwiki.net/Main_Page

Worth the look.


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Erica writes...

I feel sorry for you, having to answer to all those know-it-all smart asses.
Are u never irritated by that?

Keep up the good work!
Kind regards!

Greg responds...

Obviously, I get irritated. I think I've been incredibly incapable of hiding my irritation recently - even with folks who aren't abusing the system and have really done nothing wrong. And, for the record, I regret that. But I'll admit it has been tough, cumulatively, to stay sanguine on my end. I've been doing this (producing cartoon shows AND answering questions about them) for nearly two decades, and though of course I've dealt with the occasional obnoxious poster here at ASK GREG, I've NEVER faced the overall level of rudeness here that I've faced since Young Justice was announced.

I do not mean to group everyone in with that. Plenty of polite folks have posted too, including plenty who don't love what they're seeing on the series (which of course never thrills me, but doesn't make me crazy). But I'm afraid this time out the polite folk are in the minority. And the rude folk are kinda killing my mood and coloring how I read everyone.

Response recorded on April 29, 2011

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Anonymous writes...

Hi Greg. I'm loving Young Justice so far, and was rather surprised with some of the things you've been able to show, especially in the Bane episode. I don't know if the standards have changed recently, but I’m used to seeing grittier subjects being only alluded to. I really like it! I think it makes their circumstances seem more real and dire. Since I’ve already given my favorable impressions in earlier questions, I wanted to mention two things which I have found to be minor annoyances, mostly because they happen so frequently:

The first is Megan’s use of youthful vernacular. It’s awkward. Since you write these kinds of lines naturally for other characters, I imagine it’s intentional to make her seem more alien. I just don’t know if it’s having the intended impact. The strongest example I can think of is after receiving an explanation of something in their plane, Megan responds to herself, “Like, duh, Megan!” Apart from the slightly awkward usage, and her not saying “like,” much, it gives me a negative impression of her when she does that. I tend to associate that kind of speech with bubble-gum, ditz caricatures. This may be contributing to the negative reaction I’ve seen mentioned a lot here towards female portrayal in the first few episodes. Artemis and Black Canary certainly don’t paint any negative pictures about women.

The second thing I've found slightly annoying is Robin picking apart words in every single episode, even if it’s just leaving off a prefix rather than a whole conversation about it. I don't think it would bother me if it happened often rather than always. I look forward to YJ episodes, and never know what kind of story to expect, but I also go in thinking, “Okay, what’s Robin going to say this time?” Since nothing else is so consistent (at least at present), it stands out a lot. It’s not a huge deal, but the frequency it’s used elevates it to catch-phrase notoriety, and it doesn’t seem like the sort of thing I should immediately call to mind when I think of Young Justice (Like Flintstones & “yabadabadoo”). I don’t know how you feel about catch-phrases, though.

I hope this fan feedback is worth something to you, even if you disagree. I’m sure I’m not the only viewer who feels this way. Keep up the good work!

Greg responds...

She never says "Like, duh, Megan!" Never. She says, "Hello, Megan!" Now, you may be shrugging and saying "What's the difference, really?" But there's a big difference. Particularly, since one of your complaints is the "like" which in fact she never says. I think the reason she's saying this is already fairly obvious, but if not, it will be.

And I'll stand by our portrayal of women in this shows (and all my shows) as diverse and not monolithic. You don't have to like everyone of the female characters I write and produce, but I won't be bound or forced to portray them all in the same way in order to avoid any whiff of criticism.

As for Robin, the fact that you're asking yourself "Okay, what's Robin going to say this time?" positively THRILLS me. Catchphrases (assuming these qualify) don't bother me. I like 'em. And they're hardly limited to The Flintstones. Even Gregory House has a catchphrase.

Ultimately, my answer is "WE LIKE OUR SHOW."

By the way, I do appreciate that you were able to write up your criticisms without being rude or obnoxious. I may not agree, but I respect the way you presented your arguments.

Having said that, I am STILL going to ask: DIDN'T YOU SEE THAT BOTH OF THESE THINGS HAD ALREADY BEEN RAISED BY POSTERS BEFORE YOU? Did you add anything to the discussion or just inadvertently hammer me with the same complaints because you didn't follow the guidelines and didn't look to see that others had beat you to it?

Response recorded on April 13, 2011


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