The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[Relayer1]

Now I'm thinking I should listen to the radio broadcasts of the 1st 2 series.

They're not a million miles from the TV presentation, but they've got a few different actors, a variety of different scenes, and on the whole they are much much more 'British' in their style (for want of a better word).

Most of the later adaptations pandered a little more to the international (re: 'American') market.

It's probably down to a personal taste thing. But for me, they're just more fresh and authentic than anything that came later.

After discovering HHGTTG by accident on the radio, I snapped up the novels when they came out (still got my signed copiy of the first one) and loved them too, but I didn't like the TV show, despite the TV versions of the characters getting stuck in my 'minds eye' as the definitive version, even bloody Trillian. I suppose that's inevitable - if I ever read LotR again, I'll probably 'see' the movie cast - although I've read it twice, that was before the films.

The HHGTT TV show was just cheap and nasty, albeit with a mostly good cast. The Marvin robot was awful and the effects were shocking - Zaphod's extra head, the space shots etc.

Stick to the radio shows if you want it at it's best.

 

[RandyS]

As far as Hitch-hiker's goes, the books have got nothing on the original radio series IMO. Neither do the TV show or the movie.

Agreed, but I like all 26 episodes of the radio series, not just the first part.

 

[Beagleman]

I kinda like the TV show in all it's wonderfully cheap, campy glory, then again, it was my first exposure to the material and I was about 8 when I first saw it...

 

[Lance]

Now I'm thinking I should listen to the radio broadcasts of the 1st 2 series.

They're not a million miles from the TV presentation, but they've got a few different actors, a variety of different scenes, and on the whole they are much much more 'British' in their style (for want of a better word).

Most of the later adaptations pandered a little more to the international (re: 'American') market.

It's probably down to a personal taste thing. But for me, they're just more fresh and authentic than anything that came later.

After discovering HHGTTG by accident on the radio, I snapped up the novels when they came out (still got my signed copiy of the first one) and loved them too, but I didn't like the TV show, despite the TV versions of the characters getting stuck in my 'minds eye' as the definitive version, even bloody Trillian. I suppose that's inevitable - if I ever read LotR again, I'll probably 'see' the movie cast - although I've read it twice, that was before the films.

The HHGTT TV show was just cheap and nasty, albeit with a mostly good cast. The Marvin robot was awful and the effects were shocking - Zaphod's extra head, the space shots etc.

Stick to the radio shows if you want it at it's best.

Absolutely. There's some terrific material in there that doesn't appear in any of the later adaptations, either (the 'Relax And Enjoy' robot song from the second radio series being a particular highlight for me ).

 

[Australis]

^ You mean 'Share and Enjoy'?

Spoilers:
http://www.hhgproject.org/entries/shareandenjoy.html

 

[Lance]

^ That's the bunny.

 

[Australis]

^ Which, iirc, is a line used by Detritus in Men At Arms.

 

[Rincewiend]

Thanks for the ideas about the Discworld books, Australis & Reverend.

Terry Pratchett is pretty much my favourite auther...
The Bromeliad Trilogy and the Johnny Maxwell Trilogy are fun to read as well...
The standalone book Nation is a bit more serious in tone, but also very good...
And then there is Good Omens, a book he co-wrote with Neil Gaiman...
Right now he is writing a sci-fi series with Stephen Baxter called The Long Earth...

 

[USS Triumphant]

USS Triumphant said:

Careful, there. You could insult most of my family and I'd be dramatically less offended than I am to see you say that about that book or would be to see insult to its author. The man almost certainly saved my life through his writings - and my mantra through one of the worst times in my life was a passage from the very book you're disparaging.

I wouldn't mind hearing that story some time, if you'd like to share.

While it was a very bad time, I suspect it was a very bad time of a fairly common and mundane variety - my parents split and one dragged me a thousand miles away, one discovered the other had been poisoning them (and probably me) for years, one set the other up to be murdered by a loan shark, sudden emotional abandonment by both, an eventually broken long-distance relationship - including a marriage engagement - with a girl who turned out to not actually quite exist (before the web), episodic hallucinations of being visited by time travelling future versions of myself (that left arguably tangible evidence of being real that I still have yet seriously doubt for obvious reasons), one of my parents having their new partner murdered for insurance and inheritance, unexpectedly becoming a father and getting married to a totally separate girl than the one mentioned previously, demonic visitations that may or may not have been (but probably were) either stress-induced mini-breakdowns or the result of being drugged by one of my parents, one parent going to prison after I was a witness who testified against them - you know: the normal stuff that every 15 - 19 year old guy goes through, right?

It was only up until I found out I was to be a father that I sat on the side of my bed with a loaded pistol in my hand a few nights out of the week, staring at it: once I was responsible for someone else, there was no place for such foolishness. I don't know that I'd have ever gone through with it, anyway - my lack of faith was too strong. (If I had had any inkling there was someplace else - anyplace - that I could go when I died, I might have looked into it. As it was, I generally convinced myself that I might as well see what came next, since even if it was horrible it was bound to be more interesting than non-existence.)

The passage in question is the one where Ford is explaining to Arthur on pre-historic Earth how he has been spending his time - being completely mad to save sanity for later when he might need it. This thinking is part of what got me through all of that, and what has helped get me through other rough times in my life, too. (The part in one of the books where he expresses that a right-thinking person would wish the people who caused them grief were never born, rather than themselves, has been of help, too. Heck, a LOT of things Douglas wrote have been of help in so many ways.)

 

[JeffinOakland]

USS Triumphant said:

Careful, there. You could insult most of my family and I'd be dramatically less offended than I am to see you say that about that book or would be to see insult to its author. The man almost certainly saved my life through his writings - and my mantra through one of the worst times in my life was a passage from the very book you're disparaging.

I wouldn't mind hearing that story some time, if you'd like to share.

While it was a very bad time, I suspect it was a very bad time of a fairly common and mundane variety - my parents split and one dragged me a thousand miles away, one discovered the other had been poisoning them (and probably me) for years, one set the other up to be murdered by a loan shark, sudden emotional abandonment by both, an eventually broken long-distance relationship - including a marriage engagement - with a girl who turned out to not actually quite exist (before the web), episodic hallucinations of being visited by time travelling future versions of myself (that left arguably tangible evidence of being real that I still have yet seriously doubt for obvious reasons), one of my parents having their new partner murdered for insurance and inheritance, unexpectedly becoming a father and getting married to a totally separate girl than the one mentioned previously, demonic visitations that may or may not have been (but probably were) either stress-induced mini-breakdowns or the result of being drugged by one of my parents, one parent going to prison after I was a witness who testified against them - you know: the normal stuff that every 15 - 19 year old guy goes through, right?

It was only up until I found out I was to be a father that I sat on the side of my bed with a loaded pistol in my hand a few nights out of the week, staring at it: once I was responsible for someone else, there was no place for such foolishness. I don't know that I'd have ever gone through with it, anyway - my lack of faith was too strong. (If I had had any inkling there was someplace else - anyplace - that I could go when I died, I might have looked into it. As it was, I generally convinced myself that I might as well see what came next, since even if it was horrible it was bound to be more interesting than non-existence.)

The passage in question is the one where Ford is explaining to Arthur on pre-historic Earth how he has been spending his time - being completely mad to save sanity for later when he might need it. This thinking is part of what got me through all of that, and what has helped get me through other rough times in my life, too. (The part in one of the books where he expresses that a right-thinking person would wish the people who caused them grief were never born, rather than themselves, has been of help, too. Heck, a LOT of things Douglas wrote have been of help in so many ways.)

Thank you for sharing that. I'm glad you made it through.