Testing, one, two, three...

Just checking to make sure this is working.

OH, YEAH...

I was watching Gilmore Girls the other night and I realized that I've neglected to mention a show that was a subconscious influence on Gargoyles.

I LOVE LUCY

Here was a series set in Manhattan that periodically took its main characters on trips to other 'more exotic' locations. Like Europe, Cuba, Hollywood, etc.

Just thought I should mention it.

Where have I been?

Around.

True, my computer crashed last Thursday, and because I took my daughter to Catalina Friday-Sunday, I wasn't able to get it fixed until yesterday.

But that's not really why I haven't been answering questions here.

The reason, which is perhaps obvious, is September 11th.

Like just about everyone, I've been deeply effected by the events of that day and by what has followed. I'm at a loss, to say the least.

I can't see my way clear to an end... Even in a strictly fantasy sense, given super-powers or magical assistance, I can't imagine a satisfying conclusion. It's not like I see the world ending. (And perhaps I've been living in blissful ignorance for too long...) But the world just seems so ugly right now, and I don't see that changing. Don't know how it changes at this point. And thus I'll admit I'm having trouble getting back into a daily routine -- even a full four weeks later.

It probably doesn't help that (a) I'm unemployed. There's no structure to my days beyond the structure that I impose. And (b) I'm naturally lazy. Any excuse, right?

But I'm going to try. I've lost all the time I gained during the August break, and I still don't think I'm ready to power through all your questions. But I have to start somewhere, sometime. And, heck... maybe a few of those lightbulb jokes will cheer me up.

Keith David, Live and In Person

For those of you in the Greater Los Angeles area looking for some much needed diversion...

Keith David (the voice of Goliath, of course) will be singing and performing live at CINEGRILL inside the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard (between La Brea & Highland) at 8pm on both Friday, September 21st and Saturday, September 22nd, 2001. My wife and I will be going Friday night. It would be great to get a nice garg-fan turnout. And I know that I personally can use the break from news reports, etc. Reservations are suggested but not required. Call: (323)466-7000.

Hope to see at least a few of you there.

September 11, 2001

There's not much I can say. I'm in shock like the rest of you. I voted in a local election, and I'm going to try to donate blood later today. It's all I can think to do.

Everyone, just take care of each other.

Greg

Thank Heaven...

July (and thus August) ASK GREG questions are done.

Now I'm just over a week behind. I can live with that.

FYI, for any fans living in the Los Angeles area:

Keith David (the voice of Goliath and Thailog and Officer Morgan) is performing live at the Cinegrill (at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard) at 8pm on Friday and Saturday, September 21st and 22nd, 2001.

I'll be going on the 21st, and I hope to see at least a few of you there.

If you've never heard Keith sing, you are SO in for a treat. The guy is brilliant.

Feeling like this is still pertinent...

I'm reprinting this.... and yes, I know that the questions I'm currently answering were all posted LONG before the first time I posted this. But since I cleared the room, I wanted to repost his message so that people keep it square in mind when posting NEW questions....

Paranoia... possibly.

So maybe it's me...

But lately I've been feeling like people are popping in to ASK GREG with the deliberate intent of catching me in a mistake or inconsistency. Like they are trying to trip me [or the series] up.

If not, my apologies.

But if so... CUT IT OUT, OKAY!!!!

It's just not much fun for me.

And before anyone else gets personally paranoid, this isn't directed at any one person. I've just had this general sense that somehow this is the new contest here. Who can make Greg look stupid. Believe me guys, I don't need much help in that department.

If you have a legitimate question you're curious about, then ask away. But if you're just posting to make me look foolish and/or to prove that the show wasn't perfect... well, how 'bout I just acknowledge both things here and now, and we let that drop.

Okay?

CLEARED THE PAGE...

I've been trying to answer questions here at ASK GREG pretty consistently for the last few weeks.

I'm guessing that the "Latest Response Page" is starting to get pretty unmanagable.

So I've cleared it, despite the fact that I've added to it as recently as yesterday.

So if you missed anything recent, please check the following archive:

RESPONSES 2001-9 (Sept)

That'll only give you questions and rambles from this month.

LIFE IN THE REAL WORLD

This is something I wrote YEARS ago. But I don't think it's here in ASK GREG, or if it is, it's only in the old archives. Vash dug it up recently, and I thought I'd reprint it here, verbatim, I've added a few notes in [brackets]:

Life in the real world.

I know I've said this stuff before. Please read this carefully. I have a real fear that this might sound defeatist or condescending, but you can't possibly succeed in "saving" the show if you don't come to terms with these hard truths. I don't know what you've been told by other people. But I do know a few things about today's animation market. I've told you before that I did not believe that Gerry Leybourne was single-handedly responsible for not renewing the show. Dean Valentine is also not single-handedly responsible. Neither is Eisner. If the fans insist on looking for a VILLAIN to blame, they stand no chance. [Neither Leybourne or Valentine are at Disney anymore.] You say you're looking for a straight answer. But really you've been given and have ignored straight answers and what you are looking for is for simple answers. There are none. Here are some (but not all) of the many factors that have probably played into the non-renewal:

1) Quantity. A normal syndication package for any children's show is 65 episodes. If you don't make it up to 65 then you are considered something of a failure. If you make 65, then you have created a show that can have ongoing library use. That's a success. Anything above 65 is gravy and NO SHOW makes more than 65 episodes without significant financial incentive. They made 78 gargoyles (including Chronicles). The financial incentive for the last 13 was that ABC needed a boys action show with some "Marquee" attached to help fill out it's Saturday Morning line-up. You'll notice that no new episodes were made for syndication. There was no financial incentive in syndication. So they didn't make any more for syndication. [These days a syndication package can be as few as 39.]

2) Ratings. The ratings for Goliath Chronicles are, or so I'm told, lousy. Forget about the why for a moment, and just absorb this fact. If the ratings are lousy, we've just lost the financial incentive to make any more beyond the 13. On that level, Goliath Chronicles objectively failed. Gargoyles did a bit better in its day, but it never broke out and knocked down the competition. Aladdin did better business for Disney. And they're not making any more new Aladdin tv episodes either.

3) Shelf space. The Disney Afternoon, as we know it, is dead. The rise of FOX, the WB and UPN ate up almost all of the existing independent stations that aired the Disney Afternoon or (in lieu of the full two hour block) the individual shows that made up The Afternoon. We've known this was coming for awhile. Existing contracts kept the Afternoon alive through the end of this season. But after that it is gone in it's present form. Now, as I understand it, Disney has made a deal with Kelloggs to do a reduced version of the Afternoon. I think it's supposed to be an hour and a half long, with one new show and two library shows. The new show for next season is 101 Dalmations. For fall of 98, it's supposed to be HERCULES. There isn't room for new Gargoyles in syndication. ABC has similar problems. As a broadcast network, they've committed to air 3 hours of FCC/Kid friendly programming per week. That means 3 hours of their morning have to be reserved for that kind of programming, because unlike Fox, they don't have any other place in their schedule to air this FCC stuff. That only leaves them with about one and a half hours to fill their morning. They have an existing commitment to the Bugs Bunny cartoons that they air for an hour. That leaves them with one half hour slot to fill. Given Goliath Chronicles ratings, it just doesn't make sense to fill that one slot with a show that's failing, when you can take a chance on something new that might succeed.

4) Resources. The fans seem to regard Disney as this Giant that can do whatever it wants, and that's true up to a point. But Disney TV Animation has limited resources. There are only so many talented animators and storyboard artists out there. There's only so much money they can spend without profits to justify the expense. From Disney's point of view, Gargoyles had its shot. You and I may quibble about how that shot was handled. Whether it could have been handled better. I think everyone would acknowledge that mistakes were made. But not intentionally. EVERYONE at Disney wanted the show to be a huge success. IT WAS NOT. I wish I could tell you different. Creatively, I'm very proud of the show. We touched a substantial group of people. But an even more substantial group preferred POWER RANGERS on a consistent basis. They cleaned our clock. Disney has to decide how to allocate limited resources. If Gargoyles had 78 shots to be a hit, and didn't quite make it, you can see why they might think it's time to allocate their resources to something else.

5) Quality. Resources came into play with Goliath Chronicles. The decision was reached to allocate priority resources to shows and home videos that they believed had a better chance to break out. That's why Chronicles looks the way it does. In my opinion, the show is inferior to the original on almost every level. This doesn't mean that a lot of good people didn't work their butts off to make it as good as it could be. But limited resources result in limited success. The resource issue was the major reason why I walked away. I regret it now. The animation has been weak, but I should not have passed up the opportunity to tell twelve more of my stories. But that's spilled milk. Eric Lewald was under the gun from the moment he came on board the show. There wasn't adequate time to make the show at its previous quality level. There wasn't even adequate time for Eric to become as familiar with the show as I'm sure he would have liked to. I tried to help. I was paid to consult. But...

6) Time. Along with limited resources, the main reason Chronicles isn't up there is Time. The show didn't get a go ahead until late november '95. I began "The Journey" in December. Eric didn't really come aboard until January '96, as I recall. Look at where we are now. It's late February [1997]. Do you really want to see the GARGOYLES episode that would result if it started from scratch now and had to air in September [1997]? I WOULD NOT.

7) Expectations. I do believe that Disney in general views the show as a disappointment. They had tremendous high hopes for it. They rushed 52 episodes into production for it's second year despite my warning that they'd have to air a lot of reruns in between new episodes. The reruns, the weaker stations we were on and many other factors, including series content resulted in a solid but decidedly unspectacular performance. I do believe that the high expectations that many at Disney had for the show, led to greater disappointment in its real failure to break out and its perceived failure in general. That disappointment doesn't make a lot of people feel inclined to make more.

8) Strategy. O.k., I'm not at Disney anymore, so I'm not privy to their strategy meetings, but from outside observation, it doesn't seem like Gargoyles fits in their overall strategy plans. Maybe it never truly did. Now we can be mad about this. We can even try to change it. But first and foremost, we should be glad they made the show at all. Next we should realize that if it doesn't fit their plans, they aren't going to be too inclined to change them IN THE SHORT TERM.

9) Management. (The one I suppose you've been waiting for if you still insist on playing the blame game.) There has been a lot of management shake ups at Disney. Jeffrey Katzenberg, Rich Frank, Gary Krisel and Bruce Cranston all left. So did I. We were all supporters of the show. But Eisner didn't leave and he was a supporter too. I haven't talked to him recently. I don't know what he thinks about the show. Maybe he's disappointed. Maybe he's not. Maybe for him it's just the resource issue. Gotta take a shot with something new. Maybe he's not involved in this decision in a significant way. No way to know. But I wouldn't be so quick to label him a villain. It doesn't hurt to let him know that you love the show, but it can't help to blame him for its demise.

I don't know Gerry at all. I've never met her. I'm also a little vague on her responsibilities at Disney, thought I've heard she's responsible for scheduling ABC's Saturday morning. But before you blame her, or even guess at what she personally feels about the show, reread all the above, particularly the section on shelf space, strategy and ratings. Now she may not like the show. I have no idea. Neither do you. If she doesn't care for the show, I'd personally be curious to know what she bases her dislike on. Goliath Chronicles? Gargoyles? Both? Whatever, she's entitled to her opinion.

I've met Dean. I've heard that Gargoyles isn't his thing. I've heard that he believes that it may not be Disney's thing either. But I don't know any of that. And again, Dean's personal view of the show is, positive OR negative, way down on the list of reasons not to make more. See above.

Buena Vista. Mort Marcus ran Buena Vista at the time I left Disney. I have no idea if he's still there. Mort was a big early supporter of the show. He was also very disappointed when it didn't perform up to expectations. Buena Vista is taking its next shots with Dalmations and Hercules. But even if the Afternoon had survived, there wouldn't be any new episodes of Gargoyles in syndication. Look at the Disney Afternoon's history. A new show premieres with new episodes. Over the next few years, the reruns move down through the Afternoon. That's cause they couldn't afford the MILLIONS of Dollars that it would take to make new episodes for early time slots that don't deliver very many kids. If there aren't any (or many) butts sitting in front of the t.v. then advertisers don't want their products advertised there, in which case they don't pay much for commercials. So networks won't pay much for the shows, so the shows operate at HUGE budget deficits. Gargoyles operated at a huge deficit. Ultimately, I'm sure it will make an overall profit for the company. It may have already. But let's not pretend this was the LION KING.

Other divisions. Some did better than others. But no one is clamoring for more gargoyles product, so none of the other divisions are clamoring for more shows.

SO WHAT DO WE DO?

We begin by admitting, at least to ourselves, that in the short term, we lost the battle.

Then we go on and try to win the war.

We have one big chance and a general small chance. Both are long shots.

The Big Chance is the Touchstone Live Action Feature. If this ever gets made and if it succeeds, then there will be renewed interest in the show.

The general chance is that television is cyclical. He-Man rules until DuckTales comes along. Rescue Rangers rule until Batman comes along. Soft and quirky is big now. But times change. And Gargoyles has a marquee. (It's a trifle damaged, but it's real.) There's a chance it could come back.

The best thing we can do is keep the flame burning. Keep executives, particularly if there's any executive turnover, informed that there is a fan base for the property. Write letters to Buena Vista, to Eisner, to ABC, to Disney TV Animation, to Touchstone. Write letters to local stations, asking them to air reruns. Write letters to the Disney Channel for the same thing. If the reruns are airing in the U.S., we have a much better chance of someday making new episodes. Keep these letters respectful. Don't try to assign blame. My god, what difference does that make. If I thought it would help I'd take 100% of the blame myself. I certainly deserve some of it. Just let people know that you loved the show. Praise it's virtues. Show "Deadly Force", "Lighthouse..." and "The Green" at grade schools. Make the GATHERING a yearly event. Increase it's budget and scope on a slow and steady basis until it becomes an important event. (Don't try to get too big too fast. If you go bust early on, you won't get a second chance.) Keep the fan base excited about the show. (This to me is the main virtue to the whole fanfic thing, which I have many mixed feelings about. If it keeps the fans interested, great.) Don't let the fans marginalize themselves with hostility or esoterica. If they get territorial they keep new fans out. No new fans. No new episodes. Prove to Disney that you are part of that great consumer demographic that they are hunting for. BUY STUFF. Buy all the stuff you can find. Prove that the show can still make money for the company. Buy all the videos off the shelf. Then write Disney's home video division and have them make more. More copies of existing tapes and more episodes on tape. Show those taped episodes to new fans. Particularly young fans. Adults and college kids are great too, but if kids don't like the show, we are doomed. Try to convince Disney records to release Carl's music on C.D. Buy animation cells from authorized Disney dealers. Talk it up.

As for the petition, hell, make copies. Send it a lot of places. Buena Vista for sure. Don't worry about whether or not it's read cover to cover by the president of the division (Mort Marcus, I think). It'll make an impression. But I don't see why you shouldn't send it to Gerry too. Send it to Dean Valentine at Disney T.V. Animation. Send it to Barry Blumberg (at the same place). Have someone in every market send it to their local ABC affiliate. Gerry isn't giving you bad advice there. If the local stations want the show, they'll make their voices heard at the network. (But remember, you need locals to send it to local stations. A petition postmarked Newark won't be taken very seriously in Cleveland.) Send it anywhere you think it might help. But you might want to read it over first. If it's full of hostile and antagonistic attacks, then we've marginalized the petition. Also try to make sure that there's no doubling up. If people signed the petition twice and Disney figures that out, then they'll figure the entire document is compromised, and they'll freely ignore it. If it's a rational statement from real existing fans than I promise you it'll make a positive impression.

But I don't want to kid you. We are probably past the point of no return, at least for this coming fall [1997]. I appreciate that you refuse to give up, and I'm not telling you to. But if you want to save yourself some heartbreak, I think you might want to start focusing on the long term instead of the short term. Even if we could change everyone's minds overnight, we've all but run out of time to put new episodes of any quality on the air by September. I don't like saying that, but I figure it doesn't help anyone to beat around the bush.

Now let me say in advance that most of this won't work. Sorry. The odds are against us. I take some consolation in knowing I was involved with 66 episodes that I can be proud of. I told the stories I wanted to tell. Not nearly all of them, but many. I ended it with Hunter's Moon and Journey, in a way that gave us some small closure but left it open in case I get another shot. A shot I'm longing for. All this offers some consolation. I hope you and the other fans feel the same. It's something to hold onto through what's bound to be a LOT OF REJECTION. There are no guarantees that we'll ever get the show back on the air in any form. But what I've written above is the most practical plan I can think of. If I can help in any way, let me know.

Otherwise, Good Luck. You are going to need it.

GREG

THE FAQ

I just read through the entire ASK GREG FAQ. WOW!!!!!

JEB and GXB!!! THANKS GUYS!!!!

Four corrections:

1. In 2198 there are only twelve clans. Queen Florence is added later. Paris, later still.

2. "Hobgoblin of Little Minds" and "The Weird Macbeth" (formerly "Puck's Macbeth") were two different story ideas. The one described in the FAQ is "The Weird Macbeth". So far, I have given no details on "Hobgoblin".

3. There have been at least six writers (that I know of) on the Live Action Gargoyles movie.

4. I never worked on the Disney Tarzan Animated series. I was offered a job on it, but I was busy voice directing 3x3 Eyes at the time, so I had to pass.

But given all that information, I'm amazed that there's so little for me to correct. Again, thank you. (Now, let's hope people look at it.)

Paranoia... possibly.

So maybe it's me...

But lately I've been feeling like people are popping in to ASK GREG with the deliberate intent of catching me in a mistake or inconsistency. Like they are trying to trip me up.

If not, my apologies.

But if so... CUT IT OUT, OKAY!!!!

It's just not much fun for me.

And before anyone else gets personally paranoid, this isn't directed at any one person. I've just had this general sense that somehow this is the new contest here. Who can make Greg look stupid. Believe me guys, I don't need much help in that department.

If you have a legitimate question you're curious about, then ask away. But if you're just posting to make me look foolish and/or to prove that the show wasn't perfect... well, how 'bout I just acknowledge both things here and now, and we let that drop.

Okay?

LIGHTBULB CONTEST

Poor Fang. Never even got to say the punchline...

Here's the set-up:

"Hey, Goliath, how many gargoyles does it take to screw in a lightbulb..."

Time for our next ASK GREG contest. It's simple and subjective. Finish the joke. The punchline that gives me the biggest laugh wins a prize of no real value, but hopefully of some mild interest.

A few rules:

1. Since we're giving out a prize, no anonymous entries will be accepted. I'll ask Todd to delete them before I even see them.

2. All posts must be clearly marked with "LIGHTBULB CONTEST" in capital letters at the head of the post.

3. Don't ask additional questions with your entry. In fact I'd recommend that you don't include anything that might distract me from laughing at your joke.

4. Spelling COUNTS!!!

5. You may enter as many times as you wish. But each entry MUST be posted seperately. Try to be selective and funny. BEWARE!!! If I sense that you're just taking multiple random stabs at it in order to try and win by the shotgun method, it may prejudice me against you.

6. I'm acknowledging up front that this is a completely subjective contest. You (many or even all of you) may not agree with my final choice. But the decisions of the judges (i.e. yours truly) are final.

7. We will accept entries posted before the end of September, 2001. I'll decide on the winner AFTER I've read all the September posts. (So figure on November, HOPEFULLY.)

One last bit of random incentive, if we ever do make BAD GUYS, I will give Fang the opportunity to complete his joke, using (with permission) the winning entry.

GLITCH

okay something very weird just happened. I was answering a question that Matt posted about the 'chameleon gene'. Then suddenly, the question just changed. My answer (which I was in the process of writing) remained , but there was now a new question listed above it.....

Hmmmm.... Okay, I think Gore just re-activated the question answering function while I was typing and we had a little glitch here. Matt's question was lost. I'll try to recreate it a bit...

1. Matt wrote something like, "I know you're not a biologist, but how does this chameleon gene' work."
2. Matt thought gargoyles were the sources of various legends, but does the chameleon gene cause gargoyles to look like legendary characters.
3. He asked whether the gene would start changing the looks of familiar clans over time. Or something like that.
4. He stated that he had his own theories as to heredity, etc. And he challenged me to 'sell' him on my chameleon gene theory.
5. He had at least a fifth part to the question (maybe more) but I didn't even get the chance to read it.

My answers to his original question; not to the paraphrased versions above. (Man, this is a mess.)

1. I have no idea. It was just a random thought.

2. No. Definitely not. You're first thought was correct.

3. Natural Mutations (not the Sevarius kind) are likely to occur. They occur to some degree in all species. I was simply positing (and only positing) that Gargoyles might have a gene that causes mutations to occur more frequently. But mostly, garg appearance is defined by heredity.

4. I don't have to sell you on anything. For starters, I'm not sure I've sold myself on it. Second, I'm under no obligation to compete with your personal beliefs. Third, if it isn't in the 66 -- I'm not guaranteeing it. Even some of that is suspect. Sevarius theorized that gargs absorb solar energy while stone. But that was just a theory. He may have been right. He may have been wrong. He may have been partially right. Or he may have been lying intentionally. See?

ANNOUNCEMENT

Tomorrow (or today I guess -- July 31st, 2001), I'm going on vacation for a week. Don't know whether or not I'll have internet access, so I don't know whether or not I'll be able to answer any more Ask Greg questions while I'm away. This is the trip that I was supposed to take in June, but didn't because I got pneumonia.

Later this month, I'm taking another week off (it helps to have no job). And that's another week when I don't know if I'll be able to answer questions.

In between, I'm job-hunting and novel-writing and still trying to have a life and answer ASK GREG questions all at the same time.

And everytime I start to get close to catching up, you guys FLOOD this place with more questions.

So here's what's going on. FLOOD AWAY. Today. Because the question posting function at ASK GREG is going on vacation for the entire month of August. I'll still answer questions when I can. And on September 1st, Gorebash will promptly turn the question posting function back on. Todd will review the questions and send them to my queue.

But for August, we're on question posting hiatus. Vacation. So relax. There's plenty of questions already posted to keep me busy. Plus you have just under 24 hours to post those last minute questions that you just can't wait on.

And we will be back one short month from now. Enjoy your summer. See you soon.

And thanks, as always, for your continued support of the show.

DISAPPOINTING NEWS...

On Friday the 13th, July 2001, the staff and etc. of Disney's Team Atlantis was informed that the series was being scrapped. Being a freelance Voice Director, I wasn't at the meeting, but I've been told that the company is disappointed with the box office of the Atlantis film and have decided not to spend additional monies on a series.

(There may still be a direct to video sequel. That had not been decided as of Friday.)

So basically we're all unemployed and all the work that we did up to this point just gets tossed into a file cabinet. WHOOPIE!

On the plus side, as long as I continue to be involved with killed projects we will never lack for Radio Play materials at future Gatherings.

RANDOM STUFF

Another thing I REALLY wish I had seen at the Gathering is Keith David wielding a sword and quoting from Othello.

I heard that Michael Reaves has a brilliant (because it's simple) solution for how Goliath, Hudson and the Trio could speak modern English upon waking at the castle. Demona used a spell from the Grimorum on them the night before they woke up. Perfect. They'd never even have to know that there was a change in the language. I love it. (Wish I had thought of it.)

GATHERING 2001 DIARY: Part Five

Monday, June 25, 2001

Once more, Kathy knocked on my door to wake me for the staff breakfast.
Once more, I ignored the first knock.
Once more, she didn't give up.
Once more, I got up and answered the door, telling Kathy I wouldn't make it to the breakfast.
Once more, I did get down there in time to catch the tail end of the breakfast and get some juice.

I checked out of the hotel and put my stuff in my car.

The first panel of the day was for Roughnecks: The Starship Trooper Chronicles. This was actually the panel I had been most nervous about. The reason? Well, we had gathered an impressive list of guests: David DeLuise, Jamie Haines, Alex Polinsky, Rino Romano, Steve Staley, James Horan, Jason Marsden, Sue Blu, Wayne Boon, Vince Edwards, Russ Isler, Joe Lawson, Dave Hartman, Lydia Marano, Jay Oliva and Tom Pugsley. But the panel was scheduled for 10am on Monday the night after the Masquerade. I was afraid that our panelists would outnumber the attendees. Fortunately, that wasn't the case. I played an episode from the series: "Funeral for a Friend". Mostly because it's my personal favorite. Yes, I wrote it. But I just love how it turned out, particularly the epilogue funeral itself. Then we gathered for the Q&A, which was fun. A lot of these guys hadn't seen each other for awhile. Then a short signing. Finally, I had to clear the room for the next panel.

3x3 Eyes. Guests included Thom, Jonathan Klein, Taliesin Jaffe, Mia Korf and Susan Chesler. This was a nice little panel too.

Then a short break and closing ceremonies. Lots of people getting thanked....

I hung out downstairs for awhile, then Brynne and Russ and I meandered up to the con suite. The Dead Dog Party took a while to get started. But we shared a pizza with the constaff. And then I had to take off. (My family missed me.)

And that, was the con.

But once again, I'd just like to thank everyone involved. Jen and the whole constaff, in particular. But also the guests and supporting members. And especially the fans who shelled out and showed up. It was great meeting you/seeing you again, etc. It makes my year. I'm already psyched about Virinia Beach in August, 2002. And, although, I wouldn't wish the workload on any of my friends on the G2001 staff again, I do hope that sometime we have the chance to do the con in L.A. once more. In terms of Gathering the cast and crew that worked on the show, you just can't beat proximity to where they all live. You guys always treat me wonderfully, but it was also very gratifying to see everyone else on the show get a chance to share in your respect and appreciation. GARGOYLES was never a one man operation, and I'm glad you all got the chance to meet each other.

I'd also like to point out, what I'm sure you're all very aware of -- how feeble my Gathering diary is. I have no defense. Except that I'm a fiction writer not a journalist. I've been lurking around though, and diaries by Christine, Lexy, Aaron, BrooklynX, Greg Bishansky, Shan, etc. have really put mine to shame.

And I'm also sorry that I missed a few things at the con. I was so busy, I didn't ever get to see Crispin's mythology seminar. I spent almost no time in the video room and it would have been fun to watch some of the shows with you guys. And although, I did get to the art room, I never had time to just hang there and really absorb everything (I never had time to vote, for example), and I somehow completely missed seeing the MAP that won the big prize. If it's scanned online and there's a link, I'd sure appreciate someone sending the link my way.

Thanks, gang. You rock. (Pun intended.)

Greg

GATHERING 2001 DIARY: CHAPTER FOUR

Well, again, I've completely mixed things up. I'm too lazy to start over so I'll just keep correcting myself after the fact.

Saturday night, after the dinner at CityWalk and a little con suite fun, we all headed up to check out the Rooftop Garden Ballroom. This is the room where the "Better than Barney" story actually took place all those years ago. But I'd never been up there at night before. It was gorgeous. I pointed out all sorts of random stuff. Where 3x3 Eyes was recorded. Where Disney TV Animation used to be housed. Where we used to sneak into the Texaco Commissary. Where Gargoyles was On-Lined. Etc. Then we just hung out for awhile. Talking quietly. It was calm and nice. This kind of stuff is actually my favorite part of the con.

SUNDAY, JUNE 24, 2001
Kathy knocked on my door to see if I was coming to breakfast. I said no, though I managed to get down there for the tail end and grab a glass of juice.

Then it was time for my mug-a-guest. Got some interesting questions. Hope I gave interesting answers.

It ended in time for me to participate in the tail end of the Design and Direction panel with Bob Kline, Doug Murphy, Frank Paur, Dennis Woodyard and Bob Schaefer. Frank (or someone) had brought a ton of development and pre-production and production art and spread it out on the long table. My sister Robyn arrived. And then my folks. And then my wife and kids. It was kinda cool.

That panel segued right into the massive Series Production panel. All of the above were there, plus Bob Birchard, Denise Byrne, Craig Kemplin, Brynne Chandler, Ray Leonard, Marc Perlman, Laurel Whitcomb, Paca Thomas, Jamie Thomason, Mark Von der Heide and Thom Adcox (and again I apologize if here or anywhere I've left someone out). It was great to see such a big turn out both on the panel and in the audience. Jay Fukuto, one of my old bosses on Gargoyles and currently Vice President of Creative Affairs at Disney TV Animation, came in just a bit late. I think Jay was really impressed with the con. He's currently talking to people around the company about exploiting the property a bit. Specifically, he's asking about DVD production, so the Convention's Job One was a success.

My family took off. And the actors began to arrive. Thom Adcox and Crispin Freeman, of course. But we also had Jeff Bennett, Neil Dickson, Elisa Gabrielli, Gregg Rainwater, Cree Summer and Keith David. Cree came despite the fact that she had a sinus infection. Keith brought his son Owen, who was also feeling under the weather. It was really gratifying that they all came.

The Q&A was terrific. I tried to moderate and otherwise keep my mouth shut as much as possible so that you guys could here them talk. Then there was the cast autograph session... the line was literally out the door. Way out the door. Cree was feeling awful and had to take off. And Keith too eventually. I'm sorry if anyone missed them, but it was great that they came at all.

The auction started, while the crew guests signed stuff. I think I signed fewer autographs this year than at any previous con. Finally, you guys are getting your fill of me.

My shrinky-dink Brooklyn necklace sold to Aaron for $65. Beth and I were arguing what it would go for. I guessed twenty. She guessed forty. Greg Bishansky bought the signed copy of "The Journey." Though I'm not sure what he paid. I don't know what the Roswell script went for or who it went to. But I gather the auction was a success. Major kudos to Kathy, Patrick, Myhrr and Draconis.

We had some time off before the Banquet up in the Rooftop Garden. Beth came back to join me for dinner. We wound up sitting with Todd Jensen, Tigris, Kelly and her fiance, and a couple more people that I'm blanking on, unfortunately (sorry). Beth did most of the talking. It may come as a surprise, since I seem to be such a big mouth, but in our house, Beth is the talker.

After dinner came the Masquerade. We had about a million judges, which was unwieldy but fun. There were, as usual, some great costumes and some fun Cosplay. Slash came out and played his guitar. It was fun, but at the end of the night it started to go on a touch too long. People wanted to get to the awards and Dreamie and Demona May came out to hook him. We gave a joke award to the ladies for that, and I'm afraid that Slash might have misinterpreted that. Slash, it was great of you to get up there. Sorry if there were any hurt feelings.

As usual, we gave out the Gorebash Memorial Award. Of course, Gorebash isn't actually dead. He's just been seemingly M.I.A. for a bit. He's firmly back now. Just check out his comment room. Anyway, that award went to Mara and Aaron for their cross-dressing Xanatoses. Thom got to drop his pants. Thom and Crisping made out repeatedly. Myhr was his usual amazing self. It was a blast.

The hotel shut down the DJ a touch early. But frankly that worked for me fine. Again, I got to spend time in the dark and quiet rooftop garden with a bunch of you guys. Including people who have become good friends. Jennifer, Steph, Seth, Patrick, Kathy, etc. I'd have probably stayed there all night, but I started on a coughing jag -- left over from my pneumonia, and I just couldn't stop it. So I called it a night, went downstairs and took some cough medicine.

One day left...

Stay tuned.

GATHERING 2001 DIARY: PART THREE

First, standard disclaimer. I apologize in advance if I leave people out. Sorry.

Second, an invitation. I'd love to hear others' responses to the Gathering. Feel free to post them here.

Third, a correction. I got confused writing Part Two of my Gathering Diary. That dinner I described at the Japanese Restaurant at CityWalk actually took place on Saturday, June 23rd. Here's what we did Friday night...

After opening ceremonies, we had a staff meeting over dinner at the restaurant in the Hotel. Jordan, Carol, Patrick, Jennifer, Kathy, Cindy, Kenna, Meredith and Thom Adcox and myself. (Am I leaving anyone out?)

When that dinner was over, I strolled over to the next table where Frank Paur, Dennis Woodyard, Bob Birchard and Loren McLaughlin were eating. Joined them and we talked and bitched and told stories for a while longer.

Then I wandered back to our main rooms, where the MST session was in progress. I stayed for all of "The Gathering, Part One". It was fun, but so many people were talking, it was a little hard to hear each individual joke. I left after that. Later, I was told that people were afraid I was offended. I absolutely WAS NOT. Just tired.

Anyway...

SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 2001
I got up in time for the Staff Breakfast in Performers. A nice calm before the storm. After, I took a quick peak into the art room again. Then my brother showed up. He and I went upstairs to get the stuff I needed for my various panels.

Then I had my first Q&A. Series Develoment. I was on a panel with:
Greg Guler - Development Artist and Character Designer
Bob Kline - Development Art Director and Producer/Director
Dave Schwartz - Development Art Director
Tad Stones - Producer of multiple other animated tv series.

Tad was the star of this panel. He told the story of how he basically gave me the idea of Goliath, but his story took him off on a bunch of fascinating tangents. He also talked quite a bit about Team Atlantis. This sort of surprised me. I had been under the impression that he wanted to keep mum on that subject. But it was nice of him to reveal what he did.

After that, I had a Voice Acting Technique Seminar. Originally, I had been scheduled to be in the "Writing for TV Animation Seminar" that was going on at the same time. But I switched over for a couple reasons.

1. I did that seminar last year in Florida. Don't have much new to say.

2. I've been doing much more voice directing these days then writing. It seemed more honest in a way.

So the voice seminar was a blast. Morgan Sheppard was on the panel. And Crispin Freeman and Jonathan Klein and Taliesin Jaffe. They had all just finished a Voice Acting Technique Q&A minutes before, so we made ours into more of a workshop.

I had brought some sides. Morgan read Petros Xanatos with a couple of different attendees trying their mouths as David Xanatos. Then Crispin took on the roll of Griff with two casts of Leos, Unas and Goliaths.

We auditioned people for various rolls from Gargoyles, just to give them an understanding of the audition process.

Then Crispin set up his computer and monitor so that people could try their hands at dubbing some anime. By this time, my wife Beth and our kids Erin and Ben had arrived. (Their first day at the con.) Erin wanted to try her hand at ADRing. She did pretty good, but I think she realized that it's harder than it looks.

Taliesin then set up his own little anime dubbing exercise. It was all fun and I gave away the sides at the end.

From there, I headed over to the "Writing for Gargoyles" Q&A. This panel consisted of myself and...
Brynne Chandler - Writer/Story Editor
Gary Sperling - Writer/Story Editor
Lydia Marano - Writer
Tuppence Macintyre - Researcher (and a Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney)
Monique Beatty - Currently a producer in her own right, but on Gargoyles she was my assistant.

This was another fun panel with a lot of good questions asked and some fun stories. Todd Jensen, I believe, was in the audience, though I didn't yet know who he was. He and I had a little bit of time to talk later, though less than I would have liked. (I was too crazed, and I think he was too respectful to be pushy.)

My various family members took off, as I headed into the Radio Play rehearsal. (I listed the cast in the last part. I won't repeat it here.) The rehearsal went fast and easy, and because this year's radio play was shorter than previous, we had time to run things twice. And we still finished with time to spare.

Again, I ran around a bit. Checking out the dealer's room and art show. Then I joined Jordan Mann and Morgan Sheppard for an extremely late lunch. Morgan told us some great stories. It was fun. (Everything was fun.)

We gathered in the main room to set up for the Radio Play. Minor crisis involved the little stage the hotel had put up for us. Not big enough for everyone. But too big to move. I had to quickly rethink where everyone sat. (This is only a problem because I'm so anal.) Anyway, there were a few nervous moments as neither Nicole or Rebecca had gotten the message to show up early. I thought for a second we'd be subbing in two more of our understudies. But they both showed just before the show.

We put the cast in our "Green Room". Actually out a door that led outside. Brought in the fans. I intro'd the cast one by one, ending with our ringers, ending with Thom who was playing Lexington of course.

We then performed the thing. It has some sequences you never saw on tv, including a nice little chase through the Paris catacombs and a sweet scene between Jason and Elisa at the ruined clock tower. But I think the single line that got the best response was Charles Canmore saying, "We can no more stop hunting the Demons than breathing the air." Or something like this.

This year, I had/took the time to cut the narration way down before hand. WAY DOWN. But during the performance, I kept noticing other things I should have cut. Hopefully next year I'll do better.

Still, people seemed to enjoy it. And I had a blast. Jen was a very fun Demona. Zehra's Elisa was terrific. The audience went nuts for Brooklyn and Bronx and all the minor rolls. And especially for Thom as Lex and Crispin as a very Faggerbakke-esque Broadway.

When that was over, we went to dinner up at CityWalk. But I accidentally wrote about that in the last entry, so that's it for now.

Stay tuned for PART FOUR: Sunday.

GATHERING 2001 DIARY: PART TWO

Friday, June 22nd, 2001

[Assume the usual caveats. I'm bound to forget someone or many. I apologize in advance. Also, I'd love to see other peoples Gathering diaries. Feel free to post them here.]

Well, I got up Friday morning at home. Packed a small duffle and my box of Gathering crap and headed to Universal City.

I checked in, but my room wasn't ready. An obvious question is why was I staying at the hotel when I live about twenty minutes away.

The answer begins with the Gathering Staff's generosity. But I hope they got their money's worth. By staying at the hotel, it allowed me to be at the con both earlier in the morning and later (much, much later) at night. My kids missed me. But my family's very understanding, thankfully.

Anyway, after checking in, I dropped my Gathering box off at the con suite and then went back downstairs to look around and see if I could help in any way. All day Friday and Saturday I wore the Shrinky-Dink Brooklyn necklace that I made with my kids. It seemed like wearing it around the con might just up its price at the auction. You'll have to ask Aaron if that ploy worked.

I gave Cindy and Jules the two pieces of artwork that my daughter Erin drew. One was "Gargoyle Babe", which she did herself. The other was "Daddy and Daughter's Night Out". A picture of Goliath and Angela disco dancing which she and I drew together. Erin eventually decided to put both pictures up for sale for charity. I think Dreamie bought "Babe". And Jules bought "Night Out". In turn, Erin wound up buying a piece from Dreamie and a bunch of stuff from David Wong. My son Ben bought a piece from Kelly and a Goliath yoyo. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I gave Kenna some Roughneck video tapes that Sony had donated. Over the last couple months, I had already loaned Jen all my Gargoyles episode tapes for her to copy. (She still has all of season two and "The Journey".) So we had plenty to keep the video room busy.

I put some things in for the auction. Some more Sony donations. A signed copy of my original script for "The Journey". And a signed copy of my original pilot script for "Roswell Conspiracies". (You know, the one we did as a Radio Play in Dallas.)

And speaking of Radio Plays, it was time for auditions. I met up with Thom Adcox and Jordan Mann and we began the process. As usual it was a lot of fun. Because I knew we were going to be doing "Hunter's Moon, Part Three", but the auditioners didn't, I got to here a lot of Scottish accents, and I got to ask everyone to bark like a dog (for Bronx).

We got a fairly good turnout. Better than last year in Orlando, when we had to beg people to participate. Still not as good as in Dallas or New York, when we were so overwhelmed by the numbers of those auditioning that the whole rest of the day ran late. It helped, I think to hold auditions Friday when the show was Saturday.

We powered through the auditions, taking a few breaks. Seth, who's easily distracted, was in line to audition. Took off while we were on break, and came back too late to audition. He tried to wheedle his way into the show later. And it was tempting, since he's been a member in good standing of the Gathering Players (he was our male lead in New York and Orlando). But the show was cast. Too late, Seth. Sorry. ;P

Most everyone who auditioned was pretty good. Casting was difficult, because we hated to leave anyone out. But I think we came up with a good mix of the old guard, new blood and RINGERS.

We had Lanny back. As usual, in the auditions, I offer people a choice of reading whichever original Gargoyle "side" they feel like reading. Lanny chose Goliath, and I told him I was hoping he'd pick that. He didn't know what I meant until that night when he found out he'd actually be playing Goliath. And we had Jen and Jordan and Alex and Sara and Heather back in the show again. It's great to have some continuity.

Plus we had Thom playing Lex of course. With Morgan Sheppard (the voice of Petros Xanatos) playing Hudson and Crispin Freeman doing his dead-on Broadway imitation. (It SO cracked us up in our auditions, Jordan, Thom and I KNEW we had to cast him as Broadway.) Elisa Gabrielli was supposed to play Maria Chavez (as she had in "Revelations"). But there was a miscommunication and she didn't make it Saturday. (Fortunately, she came Sunday, which is when we really needed her.) The good news is we had three understudies this year. Last year, we lost a cast member at the last minute. Jesse was forced to play two rolls. This year we were ready, and Jennifer Mallon jumped in to take Elisa's place.

And we had some great new finds. Zehra just blew us away with her Elisa audition. She was great. And Nicole was a fine Scottish Canmore. Actually, everyone did great.

Here's the full cast:

ELISA MAZA... Zehra Q. Fazal
GOLIATH... Lanny Fields
LEXINGTON... Thom Adcox
BROADWAY... Crispin Freeman
BROOKLYN... Sara Hutchinson
ANGELA... Batya Wittenberg
HUDSON... W. Morgan Sheppard
BRONX... Rebecca Gold
JASON CANMORE... Jordan Mann
JON CANMORE... T.J. Ferraro
ROBYN CANMORE... Nicole Dubuc
CHARLES CANMORE... Chris Rogers
DEMONA... Jennifer Anderson
DAVID XANATOS... Johnney Muije
FOX... Kelly Creighton
OWEN BURNETT... Kevin de Caccia
MATT BLUESTONE... Joshua Poole
MARIA CHAVEZ... Jennifer Mallon
MORGAN... Loren G. McLaughlin
PILOT... Alisa Christopher
MARGOT YALE... Heather E. Rice
BRENDAN... Rahsaan Footman
VINNIE... Alex Wittenberg
TRAVIS MARSHALL... Kristen de Caccia

UNDERSTUDIES... Sean Camanyag and Gabriel Guerrero

I'd like to give a special thank you to both Thom and Jordan for being my partners in crime on the auditions.

Anyway, casting done, we got back downstairs just as various guests began to arrive. I saw Michael Reaves for about a second before he took off. But I got to spend a bit of time with Dennis Woodyard, Bob Birchard, Frank Paur, Tuppence Macintyre, Brynne Chandler, etc.

I'd like to extend another special thank you, this time to Carol Wagner, who did such an amazing job at guest wrangling both in the weeks before the con and during. Also to Patrick for making registration for the guests such a smooth and generally painless process.

I checked into my room. Just down the hall from the Con Suite and the staff room. I saw a bunch of familiar faces. Leva. Greg Bishansky. Aaron and Mara. Hudson. Kythera (who also helped out at Auditions with Johnney). Saw Vash in here somewhere. Demona May. Noel. Ah, I know I'm forgetting people. Sorry. Or mentioning them on the wrong day. I ran into Ashley at one point. It was great to see her again.

Bill Faggerbakke arrived, and folks almost literally lined up around the block for his autograph. It delayed opening ceremonies a bit. But not too badly -- not relative to the Gathering's track record, anyway. Jamie Murray got things rolling, introducing the staff, etc. I won't repeat the con virgin joke. Other people have mentioned it, and the truth is I didn't hear it at the time. I was antsy. Getting up and sitting down and getting up again.

As you all may have gathered, I rather like speaking in public. (I'm lousy at small talk and shy in social situations with people I don't know VERY well, but I'm a decent public speaker. Go figure.) But I generally get pretty wired just before I'm about to go "on".

Anyway, Jamie intro'd me. I intro'd our guests. Ending with Thom. (I just want to say that Thom and I always got along well during production of the show. But it's during the last few years since he came to the Dallas Gathering that he and I have really become close friends. He's such a great guy. I'm not sure how we made it through the first two NYC Gatherings without him.) Thom intro'd Lexy and gave her her FAN GUEST OF HONOR AWARD. This was a complete surprise to her. Something the staff agreed on secretly to thank Lexy for her amazing recruitment work. She seemed genuinely touched. It was pretty cool.

Then I began my schpiel. Considering you have heard and I have told ALL these stories about a THOUSAND times, I thought that this time I was amazingly scatter-brained. You'd think I'd have them down to memory. But I kept forgetting things. Remembering them later. Telling things out of order, etc. I belatedly remembered that I had a letter from Ed Asner to read to all attending, and then couldn't find the letter. It must have taken me forever to realize I was holding the letter in my hand. I had folded it up and had written a note to myself on it. D'Oh.

Anyway, it was fun to tell the "Better than Barney" story in the Hotel where it originally took place, with Bill F. there. I'm not sure whether he remembers saying that. Perhaps I made the whole thing up. (And my garage band will be playing at the Whiskey this week-end.)

I showed the pitch, the promo. The New Olympian and Dark Ages development. The Bad Guys reel. It was terrific to have that video projector. Finally people could get a decent look at what I was showing them.

I rambled forever. Then finally relinquished the floor.

Afterwards, a bunch of us went up to CityWalk for Sushi and a staff dinner. Crzy's husband Alan Anderson was there (with Kathy Pogge as his date). My date was Jen. *Yes we're a strange bunch, and I'm happy to include myself in that assessment.*

Meredith was there. Patrick. Crispin and Izobel. Cindy? Kenna? The Morgans? Carol? I can't remember, I'm sorry. Dinner was the typical "Hey, it's CityWalk, expect to wait forever!" marathon. But the food was good. And so was the company.

We headed back to the con suite, where Aimee and Steph (Hi, Pickles!) began decorating me with post-it notes depicting various characters from the show. I've kept them all. Except for that nasty one of me. [Wait, did this happen Friday night or Saturday? My memory is just a blur.]

I called it a night relatively early (for me). I was still a bit nervous about a pneumonia relapse. Walked down the hall to my hotel room. Watched some TV and then crashed.

Stay tuned for Part Three...

I'm only one month behind!!

That's all I wanted to say.

GREG'S GATHERING REPORT: PART ONE

[Disclaimer: It is the nature of these things to forget more than one remembers. The feelings remain. The details are fuzzy. I apologize in advance if I get something wrong or leave something out.]

Thursday, June 21st, 2001

Yeah, I know, the Gathering 2001 didn't start until Friday, but for me it started last August in Orlando. I'd been working pretty closely with this year's staff to help them gather special guests. At G2000, I rashly promised over twenty guests would attend. By June 14th, 2001 we had over 50. And then I got pneumonia and it looked like I'd be the one guest who wasn't going to make it.

Fortunately, my doctor got me on antibiotics immediately. Within 48 hours I was feeling about 90% better. I was even able to go to a Team Atlantis recording session on Wednesday the 20th. Good thing to, because that was the day I secured Cree "Hyena/Kida" Summer to attend our little party.

Anyway, by Thursday the 21st, I was feeling world's better, and I attended the pre-con dinner at Camacho's at CityWalk. Carol Wagner, a former student of mine and our phenomenal guest liaison (who absolutely picked up tons of last minute slack in handling detail work on most of the guests), was the first to join me at the restaurant. But soon, Jennifer Anderson arrived with most of the gang, including Patrick, Kathy, Meredith, Kenna, (Cindy were you there?) and the Morgans. Tim had to take off with Becca, but Christine stuck around. Jen introduced me to Crispin Freeman and his girlfriend, the lovely and talented Izobel. Dinner was fine -- though the service was SLOW!

Then we hiked down to the hotel to get a tour of where everything was going to be. Thursday night it all seemed TOO spread out to me. But by Friday, I realized it was all close enough together. We elevated up to the con suite and sat around a bit. But I didn't want to stay up to late Thursday, so I took off at a semi-reasonable hour. Carol and I hiked back up to CityWalk. I drove home. Very excited. Like a kid, it was hard to sleep.

GARGOYLES 2198 CONTEST RESULTS

FINALLY! It's over!

Matt got the last correct answer (though it was the only answer he got), and we're all very grateful. He gets a prize.

The other prize goes to the individual who got the most answers correct first. Here are the results...

TIED FOR EIGHTEENTH PLACE:
Dracolich - 1
Faieq - 1
Fireball - 1
Matt - 1
Melissa - 1
The Guppi - 1
The Mighty Thor - 1
Vashkoda - 1

TIED FOR FIFTEENTH PLACE:
CZ - 2
Graymonk - 2
Slow - 2

IN FOURTEENTH PLACE: Bud-Clare - 4

IN THIRTEENTH PLACE: Coyote the Bando - 5

IN TWELFTH PLACE: Shari B. - 6

IN ELEVENTH PLACE: Leva - 7

IN TENTH PLACE: Todd Jensen - 8

TIED FOR EIGHT PLACE:
Aris Katsaris - 12
Demonskyre - 12

IN SEVENTH PLACE: Kalafarski - 31

IN SIXTH PLACE: DragonWolf - 32

IN FIFTH PLACE: Ray Kremer - 33

IN FOURTH PLACE: Galvatron - 35

IN THIRD PLACE: Kelly L. Creighton/Kya White Sapphire - 42

In SECOND PLACE: Adam - 101

AND IN FIRST PLACE: Phil - 183

Phil got nearly 35% of the answers single-handedly.

So the winners are matt and Phil. But I'd like to thank everyone who participated.

As for the prizes, I'm first wondering if either matt or Phil are coming to the Gathering, so that I can hand-deliver their prizes. If not, I'll mail them out after the Gathering. (Too swamped to deal with it now.)

AND NOW THE COMPLETED BLANK-FILLED CONTEST:

GARGOYLES 2198
(Fill-in-the-Blank Contest / 9-21-00)

Written by

Greg Weisman

One thousand years ago…
Superstition and the sword ruled.
It was a time of darkness.
It was a world of fear.
It was the age... of gargoyles!
Stone by day, warriors by night,
We were betrayed by the humans we had sworn to protect,
Frozen in stone by a magic spell for a thousand years.
Finally... the spell was broken, and we lived again!

But our struggle was far from over...
For the last two hundred years we have faced the future,
Navigating an uneasy truce with the human race.
But now the planet Earth itself is under attack!
Humanity is helpless!
And we may be your last hope for freedom…

We are defenders of the night!
We are protectors of this world!
The year is 2198.

And we… are GARGOYLES!

In 1996, humanity and the world at large discovered there were gargoyles living among them. Fortunately for the human race, Gargoyles are by nature a protective species. Unfortunately for the gargoyle race, humanity is by nature an intolerant species. Humans did not welcome having to share their world with other sentient creatures. Many were quick to label the gargoyles as beasts, monsters, demons or worse. Gargoyles were denied basic "human" rights. They were discriminated against. Experimented upon. Attacked. Caged. And sometimes destroyed.

Despite this, GOLIATH, the leader of the gargoyles, maintained hope that one day humans and gargoyles would live in peace. Eventually, that day came. The "GARGOYLE MINORITY PROTECTION ACT" was adopted by the UNITED NATIONS. Gargoyles were granted full "sentient rights". Though Gargoyle clans were scattered across the globe, they were collectively granted special status as an indigenous nation. Hunting Gargoyles became a crime.

True acceptance, however, is not so easily legislated. At best, Gargoyles were still barely tolerated by their human neighbors. Real peace would have to wait.

But the gargoyles would take what they could get. The species, once on the verge of extinction, began to make a comeback. Clans that were thriving helped to repopulate those that were not. By 2188, TWELVE CLANS comprised the GARGOYLE NATION. Each was strong in number and tradition. Now it was time to expand again. As a potent act of symbolism, every clan brought its GARGOYLE EGGS to QUEEN FLORENCE ISLAND, off the West Coast of Canada. The eggs would hatch together to demonstrate gargoyle unity. Some of the hatchlings would eventually return to the other Twelve Clans. But many would stay to form the basis of a new clan. A thirteenth clan.

Someone should have told the gargoyles that thirteen is NOT a lucky number.

March 21st, 2198. Queen Florence Island. From around the globe, human Heads of State and all Twelve Gargoyle Clan Leaders have come to this small island for the HATCHING. They wait within the caldera of the Island's dormant volcano to witness the new generation of gargoyles bursting out of their shells. Meanwhile, Samson, a young gargoyle warrior is stuck on ceremonial guard duty at the base of the mountain. Out of nowhere, an immense SPACESHIP materializes above the volcano. It emits a blinding beam of light that stabs down into the caldera. Samson races up the slope, but it's too late. The caldera is empty. No eggs. No gargoyles. No humans. No World Leaders!

Simultaneously, another giant spacecraft hovers over Antarctica. Another beam stabs downward. And Earth's MASTER MATRIX Computer -- the operating system for nearly everything on the planet -- vanishes.

It all happens so fast, there's no time to react. Earth is paralyzed and leaderless when the alien SPACE-SPAWN invades. In less than twenty-four hours, the planet is occupied, absorbed into the SPACE-SPAWN EMPIRE. There is very little loss of life. Very little damage done. Unless freedom matters to you.

It matters to Samson, the new leader of the RESISTENCE. One by one, he gathers his team…

SAMSON - Samson of the Manhattan Clan hatched in 2158. Though his coloring is different, it's obvious to anyone who'd care to look that he is descended from Goliath. Still no one knows how many biological generations removed from Goliath he is. He might be the biological grandson of either Artus or Gwenyvere, Angela and Broadway's first two biological children, or he might be the biological son of Lancelot, their third born. Frankly, it doesn't really matter. There were many eggs in that rookery. All raised collectively by the Manhattan Clan.

By 2198, Samson is forty years old, but only twenty biologically. He has been trained as a Gargoyle Warrior both in Manhattan and in Ishimura. He demonstrated enough promise to have recently been named Second-In-Command of the Manhattan Clan. Now, a reluctant Samson must become leader not just of his clan, but of the entire Resistance.

DELILAH - Delilah of the Labyrinth Clan is a half-breed. Mostly Gargoyle… but part Human as well. Her ancestors include her namesake, the Delilah that Anton Sevarius cloned by combining the DNA of ELISA MAZA with that of DEMONA. Being genetically part of both races has left Delilah feeling like she's not truly a part of either. Upon learning of her "heritage", humans seem to react with fear and even disgust. And Delilah has never been confident that the gargoyles she was raised with don't feel the same way. All this has made her tough on the outside, but desperately insecure on the inside. Nevertheless, she's a fierce young Gargoyle Warrior (the same age as Samson), and Samson makes her his Second in the Resistance.

ZAFIRO - Zafiro of the Mayan Clan hails from the rain forests of Guatemala. He's a descendent of Obsidiana and the Zafiro from "The Green". He has feathered wings, reptilian features and skin the color of sapphires. From the waist down, he looks like a giant snake. He's Samson's contemporary and close friend. Samson, Delilah and Zafiro all trained together as Gargoyle Warriors, studying bushido in Ishimura; they have a Three Musketeers kind of rapport. Zafiro isn't quite the fighter that the other two are, but he has other strengths. He's more spiritual, more intellectual, more book-smart. He has also been entrusted with his clan's ancient and sacred Sapphire Amulet; this magical Mayan talisman prevents him from turning to stone during the day.

GUARDIAN - Seventeen year old Nicholas Natsilane Maza is a scion of both the Natsilane and Maza families (which technically makes him a distant relative of Delilah's). Nick was raised among gargoyles and has taken the family tradition to heart. He too has traveled to Ishimura to join the ORDER OF THE GUARDIAN. He has trained as a Gargoyle Warrior, embracing the Gargoyle Way of Protection & Service. He's as much a gargoyle as a guy can be and not have wings. He's eager, perhaps a little too eager, for a chance to prove that he can hold his own with any other gargoyle. Only he's not a gargoyle. He's one hundred percent human, with a human being's unique strengths and weaknesses.

SENTINEL - NOKKAR (the original model for the mysterious moai statues of Easter Island) landed on Earth centuries ago to stand sentinel and protect our world from the Space-Spawn. But by the time the Space-Spawn actually arrived, their technology so far surpassed his, he was completely caught off guard. Now, there's nothing he can do but join Samson's Resistance cell and try to pitch in. Nokkar is deeply shamed by his failure to protect his adoptive world. He would gladly sacrifice his life to redeem himself.

OWEN BURNETT - OWEN BURNETT was Chief of Staff of the United Nations. An indispensable aide to Secretary General ALEXANDER FOX XANATOS IV. In fact Owen has been an indispensable aide to the Xanatos family since before Alexander was born. But now the Secretary General is gone. Taken by the Space-Spawn and put in stasis with the rest of the world's leaders. The new acting Secretary has surrendered the planet to the enemy. He has no use for Owen's quiet efficiency and intensity. And Owen has no use for a man who won't fight. So Owen has left public service to rejoin the private sector. Secretly, he has placed all the resources of the Lexington-Xanatos Corporation at Samson's disposal. Of course, we all know that Owen is really the Puck. But since he already failed to protect his charge, and certainly has no opportunity to teach him anything at the moment, he's stuck as Owen, stone hand and all.

LXM - LXM (a product of the Lexington-Xanatos Corporation) stands for Lexington-Xanatos-Matrix, a line of robotic personal assistants that were all but ubiquitous in 2198. Almost everyone who was anyone had one of the cute little, five-foot tall, Lexington-shaped chrome robots. Each robot was directly connected via satellite to the Master Matrix in Antarctica, giving each one the ability to instantaneously summon any or all of mankind's collective knowledge. But when the Space-Spawn attacked, one of their first acts was to steal the Master Matrix. Now each LXM is on its own. Each one still has a powerful computer brain with crude artificial intelligence and long-term adaptive programming. But now, knowledge is finite, and experience is becoming the best teacher. Actually, two of these robots, LXM-994 and LXM-1057 will play a role in our series. When we open, these robots will be all but indistinguishable from each other. Automatons, merely. But as the series progresses, each will slowly develop its own personality.

DEMONA - For over a thousand years, Demona has plotted against humanity, blaming them for crimes against the gargoyle race. Now that a greater threat, the Space-Spawn, has reared it's many ugly heads, Demona has reluctantly joined Samson's Resistance cell. But no one, including Demona herself, is fully confident that she'll continue to fight on the side of the angels. This may be her last chance at redemption... or her final opportunity to annihilate the human race. Still, Samson felt it necessary to actively recruit her. It's hard to pass up the help of a warrior who's survived a millennium's worth of battles, a sorceress who knows how to combine ancient magic with modern technology. And then there's that bit about her turning into a human during the day. The only question is how she will use her talents. For now, she's siding with the Resistance. But can that last?

BROOKLYN - Brooklyn is a young gargoyle warrior from our own present day. In our second episode, he'll timedance forward to 2198. The future is as new and strange to him as it is to our audience, and often Brooklyn will be the point of view character to introduce us all to this brave new world. Brooklyn does hope to return to his own time someday, and so makes a special effort not to learn too much about his own "future". But he has no intention of abandoning Samson or Earth in their time of need. Someday, however, he may have to make a choice.

FU-DOG - FU-DOG is a Gargoyle Beast bred by the Xanadu Clan in China, who arrives in 2198 with Brooklyn. Fu-Dog is fiercely loyal (especially to Brooklyn). The ultimate watchdog.

[NOTE: Eventually, the large cast will be split in half. Nokkar will take Demona, Zafiro, Guardian and LXM-1057 into space to hit the Space-Spawn where they live. Samson, Delilah, Brooklyn, Fu-Dog, Owen and LXM-994 will remain on Earth, thwarting the aliens at every turn and engaging in many non-Space-Spawn stories.]

Anyway, those are our heroes. (Other characters will be added over time.) Here's who they're up against…

THE SPACE-SPAWN - Our main antagonists. This alien race was literally "spawned in space", born amidst the fury of an exploding star. For thousands of years, they have expanded their Empire in all directions, and nothing has been able to stand in their way. Their technology is far superior to anything we had on Earth. They possess faster-than-light space travel, cloaking devices, powerful force shields and molecular transporters. They also have weapons capable of destroying the entire planet in a matter of minutes. This creates a dilemma for Samson's Resistance. If Earth becomes more trouble than it's worth, the invaders will simply evacuate the globe and annihilate it.

THE QUARRYMEN - Decades ago, the Quarrymen organization fell out of favor. They were no longer "politically correct". But the events of March 21st, 2198 changed all that. Because most of the world's leaders were abducted while attending the Gargoyle Hatching, many humans became convinced -- at least in part due to Quarrymen propaganda -- that the Gargoyles had conspired and collaborated with the aliens. Now the Quarrymen are making a comeback. They don't much care for the Space-Spawn, but their scapegoat of choice is still the Gargoyles.

THE ILLUMINATI - Of course, the Gargoyles are not collaborators. But THE ILLUMINATI SOCIETY is. The Society is an ancient fraternal organization made up of almost all the true movers and shakers on planet Earth. Many of the world leaders abducted by the Space-Spawn were secretly members of the Illuminati -- proof that the Society definitely did NOT have advanced warning of the invasion. But once the occupation was complete, the Illuminati wasted no time capitalizing on it. They negotiated a secret treaty with the aliens, promising to infiltrate, sabotage and expose any sign of resistance. In exchange, the Space-Spawn promised to release those world leaders that the Society was prepared to vouch for. This devil's agreement was the beginning of a profitable arrangement for all concerned -- and the onset of a major headache for the Resistance.

COYOTE-X - COYOTE-X is a super-advanced robot with a highly evolved and Machiavellian artificial intelligence. He has multiple robot and cyborg operatives, and any number of android bodies that can accommodate his software. Once upon a time, Coyote-X had designs on taking over the world. But that was before the Space-Spawn showed up and rebooted his operating parameters. Now anything less than total control of the entire galaxy would strike him as under-achieving.

And that's the series in a nutshell.

GARGOYLES 2198. The future is now!

Apologia (June, '01)

Sorry, I've been so derelict in "Answering Greg" recently.

It's true that voice directing Team Atlantis has filled a bit of my time, but the fact is that what's really keeping me busy is preparations for the GATHERING (June 22-25 at the Universal Sheridan in Los Angeles).

We've been confirming guests for the last few weeks, and though unfortunately we've lost four of what might be described as "our heavy hitters", the fact remains that we have confirmed OVER FORTY special guests for the convention. Since the most we've EVER had was FOUR, I think you'll agree that this is likely to be the biggest and best Gathering to date.

Anyway, I have about twenty minutes now to answer some questions... and right before the Gathering, I'm going to my in-laws for a few days. If they've got their Web-TV set up, I should have some free time to answer a bunch of questions while I'm there. So keep your fingers crossed.

And I'll see you at the Sheridan.

Finally...

I thought I'd never get through the February 2001 questions.