Futurama Star Billy West Answers Slashdot Questions

So. You had some brilliant, whacky, and insightful questions for Futurama star Billy West last week. Today we have his brilliant, whacky, and insightful answers. Thanks go to long-time Slashdot reader Kevin Day for arranging the interview, but the real thanks goes to Billy, who was so excited about doing this that he and I ended up talking about Slashdot via cell phone -- and he caught me while I was at a local lumberyard, thinking about plywood, not Slashdot or Futurama. I wish I'd recorded the conversation. It was totally surreal. But reading Billy's answers -- and using your imagination -- will give you a good idea of what it was like. :)

1) Question number plz99
(Score:5, Interesting)
by ak_hepcat

Who are some of your favorite voice actors to work with, obviously not limited to just the Futurama cast, and what are your favorite moments or stories with them?

Billy: I love the group of voice actors I'm privileged to work with every day. I don't give a shit what ANYONE says -- these people are all trained actors. The best I've ever seen. I will get back to the question after this not so brief announcement. Celebrities are not superlatives in our field of expertise. If celebrities that are schnoring in on our field started out trying to do what we do and were held to the standards we started out upholding, a great many of them would've never made it. It's easy for a celebrity to audition for a character who looks and sounds just like him or her. Now the studio creates characters based upon who they had in mind for the role in the first place, like a rigged fight. There is no magic, no transformation or sonic alchemy, no voices we've never heard before and no chance for most journeymen who are voice artisans to work in animated features. The general consensus is "Why?" Kids and adults pay no mind to whether Brad Pitt, David Schwimmer or Spade or Will Smith is blessing the project with their "magic" talent. For the characters they play, it could be my brother in law or the plumber. It is what it is and it will never change. This is because the folks in question know that every other huge movie is now a CGI movie. It eliminates the need for on-camera performers including stars and celebrities. Being a star or celeb does not equal the God-given gifts of those in the real craft. I'm waiting for the professional athletes to "eminent domain" us. But in general, I enjoy and respect these folks at the work they do best.

Now, back to our originally scheduled question!

All of the VO's (the usual subjects) I get to play with ARE my favorites. Every day one of us raises the bar and inspires everyone else, I think. I don't ever want to stop learning or getting better. I learn every day from all my peers. Women and men. Their unique and perfectly defined voice characterizations leave me in amazement. Most can do impressions if they are called upon to perform sound-a-likes, craft original characters with upwards of hundreds of personalities and sounds. Don't forget about killer instincts. I witness it everyday.

Fave moments--
When I was doing Futurama we'd be recording and it was so hard to continue once because John Di Maggio couldn't stop bursting out into laugher every half hour or so. He'd get hung up on something wickedly funny from the script and it would set him off. Matt G. and David X enjoyed it even when I plunged in and started my nonsense riffing. We had to be shushed repeatedly. Then all in the room would start up at some point later when the "call-back to the joke fever" set in. It was so funny to see John in the corner of the room with his bead buried in a pillow so his thunderous guffawing couldn't be heard! Too many stories to mention...

2) Re:Question number plz99
(Score:5, Interesting)
by dr_dank

This leads to a bigger question: does Billy actually get to work with his castmates? Especially on an ensamble show like the Simpsons, its extremely common to have voice actors record their bits at different studios or at different times of day.

When the cast of the Simpsons did "Inside the Actors Studio" a couple of years ago, they joked that that was one of the few times in the run of the series that the cast was all in the same room together at the same time. --

Billy: In a cartoon show we work with almost all the actors and sometimes the whole cast would be present. There are exceptions when people have other work or time constraints that keep them from being at the session. Sometimes they will work with one or two actors to play scenes off each other and sometimes a performer records solo.

I have a question. If all the Simpsons could show up for the "Actors Studio" with no problem, why couldn't they......... I'm just being silly.

3) Well...
(Score:5, Interesting)
by Black Parrot

Leela or Amy?

Billy: Leela. She has more sweater meat than Amy. Uh..I think. That was Fry not me!

4) Hank vs. Billy
(Score:5, Funny)
by Lev13than

In a cage match of you vs. Hank Azaria, who would win? How about your characters vs. Hank's characters? What if it was in jello instead of a cage?

Billy: I know that would be FUN! Can you imagine me and Hank in a cage pissing circles around each other with voices? Yeow!

5) New Series: Writers
(Score:5, Interesting)
by justinstreufert

Billy --

We've heard a lot about the original voice actors who are returning to Futurama. This is great, and I believe it is absolutely essential to the success of the new season. However, what about the other staff? Are the writers of the Fox episodes returning for the new season? Is there anyone who isn't coming back to the show who you'll miss?

Thanks! Can't wait for the new season!! Can I be cryogenically frozen until 2008?

Billy: Outside of the voices, I don't know if ALL the writers and artists are on board, but I'm guessing most of them are.

Greetings from the year 3000. It still sucks! BTW you can be cryogenically frozen. Walt Disney was. They trot him out every year for "Disney on Ice."

6) "Pirates"
(Score:5, Interesting)
by TheRequiem13

How you you (not your employers) feel about consumers downloading episodes of Futurama and watching them on their personal computers or portable media player of choice?

In particular, I mean those that pay for cable TV, but don't enjoy being bombarded with ads interupting the shows every 5 minutes, and find major network schedules highly restrictive.

Billy: I was always poor, but I was pretty much raised to try to pay for everything that I wanted and don't recall ever conscientiously wanting something for nothing. Of course, it depends on an individual's situation. We're all in the same boat no matter what happens. We all wish on the same stars. I do know that a lot of advantages in technology are spurred forward as an answer to a company's perceived infringement on their product. Then there's another advance to make the former technology obsolete and on and on. But you will ALWAYS have to buy SOMETHING no matter how you feel about it. Unless you're just a dyed in the wool crook. I always hope everyone finds their happiness in a way that hurts no one. Thanks for your question.

7) Writing
(Score:5, Interesting)
by captnitro

Do/did you ever get to work with the writers on material, or improvise something on your own that makes it into the show? It seems like separating the inherent humor of many of the voices (Zoidberg comes to mind) and the way they speak, and the written material itself, would be hard.

Billy: I don't work as a writer along with the writers on the show. But I do offer ad-libs or different ways of talking for the characters. That's easy for me to do. I just want to bring as much to the table as possible. We all do.

8) The Web
(Score:5, Interesting)
by ThePolkapunk

You're one of the few actors I know of with a web site that includes the actor's involvement. How important do you think this has been in your career and continued fame? Do you think this will become important for all successful actors to have?

How important do you feel the internet has been in the success of Futurama? I know there are tons of references to fan postings and web sites on the Futurama DVDs. Do you think Futurama episodes online contributed to the continuing success of Futurama after it was cancelled? I'm sure there are plenty of people who weren't significantly exposed to Futurama until the episodes began making their way online...

Billy: I wanted to be able to talk to everyone that was into what I do. My guests are very smart, not war-like or malcontents, they're funny and imaginative and great people in general. I post all the time. I have never posted on anyone else's website ever. My page is where I say what I want to say. Every now and then a sniper from the Internet's grassy knoll breezes in, barges onto my site, takes a dump on the carpet and runs. "Just because."

I hate to say it, but it's mostly a very FEW 1st, 2nd or 3rd time posters. They show up with a full metal jacket of either a Howard Stern agenda or a Ren and Stimpy agenda. This tiny group of people harasses me about the Stern show and the time I spent there. It began 13 years ago and ended 10 years ago. I'm all done there. Most folks from the Stern groups thank me for making them laugh back then, and for that I am forever grateful to them. All I did for ten years was explain over and over why I left. Same thing with a very FEW but active spastic dogs with an R&S boner that came on basically to pick a fight with me.

I won't take any shit from anyone, but they would also attack my guests trying to get to me. I was very upset over that aberrant behavior. I can tell an innocent post from a loaded one. What do you think I am? Iggorrrent?

As far as the return of Futurama, I think it had everything to do with the Internet and the voluminous amount of fans around the world. That and the DVD sales. It was because of you all that the show is back!

Thank you for the question.

9) Futurama Flavored Humor
(Score:5, Interesting)
by eldavojohn

What exercises (if any) do you use to warm up your voice when you perform? Is it just something you're naturally good at or do you go through daily techniques and practicing like a musician or singer?

Billy: I never had any vocal training. I guess I was just a freak. I did things then the same way as I do now. With cosmic abandon. Think I share this with a lot of other VO's. I just found myself in the church chorus and in public school it was the glee club and school plays. I don't think a lot about it. It's in the head mostly and you try like the devil to replicate the sound that originates there. The voice somehow always finds new places to go to accommodate your ideas. There was a time when it was a little difficult to do the blood-curdling screams and those high pitched "genderless" voices. So I went to the best guy in the biz. Gary Catonah is a "voice-builder" who showed me the very precise vocal exercises to build up the little-used muscles around the throat. It was like a miracle! I wound up even better vocally than I'd ever seen before!

Little known fact: I did an entire season of Futurama with one vocal chord because the other one had constricted up into itself. I think it was collateral damage from a nasty, nasty flu I had caught. I saw a doctor and squared it away but it took a long time.

10) Your projects
(Score:5, Interesting)
by AiY

I saw something a few months back about a project you were trying to get off the ground called "Billy Bastard - Amateur Human Being." It sounded like a great premise and promised me something better than most television. Any updates? Air dates? General info?

Billy: Billy Bastard was what I was 21 years ago when I was cross-addicted to alcohol and cocaine. A very volatile mix.

I would wind up in the most bizarre situations and have NO recollection for the most part of what had gone down. I was a fierce rock n' roller and had just gotten into radio in Boston. I've been clean for 21 years now, but I had written down stuff that happened. It was tragic until I read it to a friend here and there. They would break up with laughter. To me it wasn't funny, but they reminded me that if it all happened to someone else -- I would be in hysterics as well.

I guess "Seinfeld" was pitched 100 times before someone saw a diamond on the floor and had the sense to pick it up.

A few people have seen the 11 minute pilot, but we couldn't work anything out so far. We'll keep pitching it until we meet the right folks for this.

Myself, Jim Gomez, Bill Wray and Dave Guppel believe in it strongly and I think it's really funny. My VO friends, the incomparable Jim Cumings, the mighty voice of Moe La Marche, and the facile and talented lightning in a bottle Rob Paulsen were so gracious to add their magic to this show.

I will always post relevant bulletins as to where we are with the project. I won't hold a press conference if I get a great meeting with someone.

11) Leave it at the beep
(Score:5, Funny)
by El_Smack

What's the message on your answering machine?

Billy: Ocean's 11...uh, I mean chapter 11--no!

I left witty little voices on my machine, but I would come home to 16 hang ups. Callers checking in and out just to hear the message and end the call. Nowadays it's just "Hi. Please leave a message" in a deep friendly disarming voice.

-----

Thanks for making this fun for me, guys,

B-dub

Comments

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[voice_of_all_reason]

Your kid is going to be really messed up.

Remember, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction...

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[daniil]

Why the fuck do you let your kid read Slashdot?

The Only Downside of BW

[ackthpt]

Most of his voices sound like Billy West doing them. Mind, Mel Blanc had a lot of voices which were recognisably his, too, but Mel could do some voices I never knew were his.

Nice to see he has moved on and had success since the acrimonious Ren and Stimpy days.

Re:The Only Downside of BW

[Anonymous Coward]

Billy's voice of Fry is the everyman, though; he's your bud, your best friend. I would almost go to say he's the reason we want the show back.

Re:The Only Downside of BW

[eln]

You can say that about most voice actors, including Hank Azaria, who BW mentioned specifically in the above article. While Billy West is a great voice actor, to try and compare him (or anyone else for that matter) to the legend that is Mel Blanc is a little unfair.

Re:The Only Downside of BW

[ackthpt]

You can say that about most voice actors, including Hank Azaria, who BW mentioned specifically in the above article. While Billy West is a great voice actor, to try and compare him (or anyone else for that matter) to the legend that is Mel Blanc is a little unfair.

The great training ground for great voice actors was radio, which really doesn't exist anymore. There may be a few DJ's who do some voice work, but nothing like the schedule which tuned up and turned out talent like Mel. Mel Blanc can be heard in classic radio as the Happy Postman on Burns and Allen, Professor Le Blanc and many other voices on Jack Benny, including the sound effects of Jack's 1908 Maxwell. He eventually would find work in Merry Melodies cartoons, but the great volume of his work and exploring voices was in Radio.

Re:The Only Downside of BW

[ackthpt]

Billy's voice of Fry is the everyman, though; he's your bud, your best friend. I would almost go to say he's the reason we want the show back.

Silly me. Here I was thinking we wanted the show back because it was humourous and had a rich cast.

Re:The Only Downside of BW

[sgant]

Well, I had no idea that Fry, Zoiberg, Farnsworth and Zap were all the same actor until the series was canceled...so he certainly didn't sound the same to me at all.

Even now, I go back and try to see if I can tell if it's the same actor and I still can't tell. Guess I have a deaf ear...which explains why I make my living as a musician. lol.

Re:The Only Downside of BW

[kalirion]

I'm in the same boat, only I didn't know they were all done by Billy West until I looked him up on wikipedia while reading this article.

Re:The Only Downside of BW

[lbmouse]

"Billy's voice of Fry is the everyman, though; he's your bud, your best friend. I would almost go to say he's the reason we want the show back."

Silly me. Here I was thinking we wanted the show back because it was humourous and had a rich cast.

Silly you, the show is back only because it made the studios profitable and the cast rich.

Re:The Only Downside of BW

[Anonymous Coward]

No, we want the show back so the cast will get rich.

Re:The Only Downside of BW

[twistedsymphony]

Silly you, the show is back only because it made the studios profitable and the cast rich. Silly him? Silly you... profitability is not why we want the show back.

Re:The Only Downside of BW

[McDrewbie]

Yeah Dr. Zoidberg sounds exactly like Billy. Same with Zap Branigan oh and the Professor, and Popeye, and Bugs Bunny, and Richard Nixon, and Porky Pig and Stimpy. They all sound like Billy West's normal speaking voice.

Re:The Only Downside of BW

[Petrushka]

... to try and compare him (or anyone else for that matter) to the legend that is Mel Blanc is a little unfair.

I think it's fair, given that Billy also provides the present-day voices for Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, and Pepe le Pew.

Re:The Only Downside of BW

[modecx]

Hell, I didn't know that he did all the voices till you just said so, and I have damn good hearing!

Re:The Only Downside of BW

[Jaruzel]

I'm sure thats sarcasm right? Although I always knew that Billy did more than one voice, I never ever during an episode think, 'hang on that's just one guy doing all the talking'.

If you seriously think they all just sound like Billy, then you obivously can't see the show for the voices, and should move on to watching something a little less complex.

-Jar.

NB. Family Guy/Futurama always jointly held my No. #1 Comedy-Animation slot, but recently I feel that Drawn Together should be up there too...

Re:The Only Downside of BW

[Anonymous Coward]

I refuse to believe that all those characters are voiced by the same actor! Next, you'll be telling me that all the voices in my head are the same person!

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[javamann]

No, his kid now has a weapon to get a reaction out of his parents.

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[benbread]

What sort of little kid reads Slashdot...?

Maybe it's just me...

[gid13]

...But he seems kinda not all there. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking him, hell, maybe it makes him better at what he does. But I just get this sense that he does NOT think like me, in a way I don't normally get from reading interviews. Is it just me?

Re:Maybe it's just me...

[Tuscahoma]

He's just missing the Delta brainwave.

Re:Maybe it's just me...

[christian.elliott]

He says in one of his answers that he was addicted to cocaine and alcohol for a peroid of time. Maybe that had some adverse affects. Maybe he should run for President! Zing.

But like I always tell people,

We're all crazy, just some of us havn't realised it yet.

Re:Maybe it's just me...

[Otter]

My guess is that this lost a lot in the transition from voice to print.

Re:Maybe it's just me...

[WinkyN]

... And no offense to you, kind sir, but maybe the fact he doesn't think like you is one reason he is so successful.

Actors are creative people, and his interview responses were very creative. Most successful people are creative in some form or fashion, and having a fresh take on things can be the difference between success and failure. Do you not think Einstein was creative? How about Newton?

Creativity is the catalyst of innovation, be it for a capacitor, rocket engine or new funny voice for a cartoon. Did anyone really expect Stimpson J. Cat to have the voice he did when you look at him? What about Dr. Zoidberg? Being creative helped give those characters a different voice and helped make their shows extremely successful.

Re:Maybe it's just me...

[PixelSlut]

And maybe that's why he has the job he has and you have the job you have. Every type of job requires a certain type of creativity; not that being a voice actor is necessarily more creative than a C++ programmer, but that it's a different type of creativity. And I would expect that to come out in his personality and how he thinks.

Re:Maybe it's just me...

[apflwr3]

...But he seems kinda not all there. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking him, hell, maybe it makes him better at what he does. But I just get this sense that he does NOT think like me, in a way I don't normally get from reading interviews. Is it just me?

I think this has more to do with the presentation.

Most interviews we are highly edited. If they're in print the language is cleaned up, if on video or radio then only the best sound bites are used. Have you ever seen or heard raw interview footage? Unless it's completely scripted in advance-- meaning the subject gets the questions ahead of time and then meticulously prepares a response-- most don't sound all that much more coherent than this. By the way, most celebrity interviews (Barbara Walters, Today Show, etc.) are scripted as I described.

This interview seems to be a guy from Slashdot firing off random questions at Mr. West and then transcribing his answers verbatim. Additionally, it seems to be very informal, conversational and "off the cuff" (lightweight questions with answers that don't exactly take a lot of forethought.) Nothing wrong with that, but it's not a "professional" style. Why don't you transcribe a casual phone call with a friend and see how "all there" both of you sound?

Re:Maybe it's just me...

[Anonymous Coward]

And maybe that's why he has the job he has and you have the job you have. Every type of job requires a certain type of creativity; not that being a voice actor is necessarily more creative than a C++ programmer, but that it's a different type of creativity.

Or more succinctly: "You gotta do what you gotta do".

Re:Maybe it's just me...

[Ryan Amos]

Billy Bastard was what I was 21 years ago when I was cross-addicted to alcohol and cocaine. A very volatile mix.

That might be a clue as to why... He's not exactly a sheltered tech nerd.

Re:Maybe it's just me...

[sp0rk173]

I would say being a successful voice actor requires far more creativity than a C++ programmer. FAR MORE.

Re:Maybe it's just me...

[kundor]

Then you know nothing about real programming. Seeing to the heart of a problem and figuring out the twist that solves it is one of the most creative things there is. It is crafting not static works, like books, but dynamic, responsive, living words -- programming is to writing what composing is to playing music. Each layer of abstraction requires less technique and rote and more creativity, and programming is one of the most abstract media that people have ever worked in.

If you program by brute force or mathematical proofs and use no creativity, then you are no more a programmer than someone transcribing data is an author.

Re:Maybe it's just me...

[colmore]

I'm related to a successful (by independant standards) musician. I've been around a whole lot of musicians, writers, filmmakers, artists and the likes.

They're maniacs. In the true sense of the word. Either that or they have a deep and bitter self-hatred that they're able to externalize. But yeah, they're all unipolar nutjobs with more than a few screws loose. It seems to me that the secret to creative success is to be bat-shit insane, and hold yourself together just long enough to get just enough success so that "normal" people will flock to you and keep track of your life for you while you just let your wheels spin.

Re:Maybe it's just me...

[Anonymous Coward]

I was in a college improv troupe for years, having lots of fun, getting lots of laughs. Ideas would pop into my head from nowhere during a scene. Years later I was diagnosed as having Attention Deficit Disorder. Explained a lot.

Kudos to the Arts for employing the mentally "odd" and letting them fit into society. :)

Re:Maybe it's just me...

[Finuvir]

Don't they email the questions and answers?

Re:Maybe it's just me...

[William_Lee]

"It is crafting not static works, like books, but dynamic, responsive, living words -- programming is to writing what composing is to playing music."

No offense, but you need to read some great literature before making this kind of comparison. It's completely offbase, and shows an utter disregard for the power of the written word. I'm sure programming is a creative activity, but to compare most programming problem solving to writing a great work enters the real of the ridiculous.

A writer like Shakespeare was a composer of the highest order. Programming may be abstract and creative, but in the grand scheme of things, to promote it as more creative than the great written works of civilization is laughable.

Re:Maybe it's just me...

[Anonymous Coward]

Ohh to have mod points... my kingdom for a mod point!

Re:Maybe it's just me...

[tmasssey]

A writer like Shakespeare was a composer of the highest order. Programming may be abstract and creative, but in the grand scheme of things, to promote it as more creative than the great written works of civilization is laughable.

This is rediculous.

The parent says that programming is like writing or composing. You jump to Shakespeare. Where did he say that *all* programmers are *better* than the *greatest* English writer in the history of time? Could one of the most creative, elegant programmers of all time achieve a level of art greater than that of, say, a dimestore novelist? If so, then his premise is correct.

*How* correct is a matter of opinion. I too feel that computer programming is an art on par with poetry: a highly structured expression that can create a powerful result. In the case of poetry, the result is an emotional response. In the case of code, it's an actual, physical, usable product. Which is more important? More valuable? Depends on the circumstances. But should code be looked upon as lesser because it doesn't immediately cause an *emotional* response?

How about a comparison to music? Some composers write symphonies. Some composers write jingles. Some composers write 3 chords and distortion. You're telling me that *all* of this embodies more artistic expression than is *ever* possible with code? If not, then again, the parent's point is valid: code can be as artistic as music. Not that code is *always* *more* artistic than music.

Re:Maybe it's just me...

[William_Lee]

The parent says that programming is like writing or composing.

That's NOT what the parent is explicitly saying (nor would I think what he is trying to say). Please go back and read the original parent (focus on the comparison made) more carefully before spouting off.

Re:Maybe it's just me...

[chiao]

Are you saying that coming up with mathematical proofs does not require creativity?

Bull-pies to your kid!

[EvilCabbage]

Keep an eye on what he's reading yourself.

Many thanks to Billy West for taking the time to do this, great read!

Bring on the return of Futurama..

Re:Bull-pies to your kid!

[innocence18]

Come on. We all know that in this day and age of this new fangled inter-web thing that traditional parenting techniques such as supervision do not apply. The most effective way to follow up this complaint is for our Anonymous Coward to sue both /. and Billy West for tainting his/her poor child. That's how we handle things now isn't it?

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[neonprimetime]

if my kid is reading this then it might be a good idea to put a little disclaimer or warning on top of the article next time.

Have you read the /. posts lately? You better ask Rob to put a disclaimer at the top of the entire /. site.

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[JesseL]

If you're concerned about your kid reading 'colorful' language, why in the world would you let it read slashdot? The only filtering going on here is what gets moderated below your viewing threshold. I can say any foul word I can think of and my post will be enshrined here for as long as slashdot lives (unless I quote scientologist scripture).

To quote St. Carlin:
"Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker"

Too articulate

[i_should_be_working]

When reading I heard Frye's voice in my head but the words weren't stupid. Kind of like this Onion article. Very weird.

The sweater meat comment made me feel at home again.

Re:Too articulate

[ackthpt]

When reading I heard Frye's voice in my head but the words weren't stupid.

Funny that, it's exactly the mentally assigned reading voice I come up with. I don't think I've ever heard Billy talk in his normal speaking voice, but rather imagine it isn't far from it, just a bit deeper as cartoon voices tend to be higher pitched, that and Fry is supposed to be younger.

Re:Too articulate

[tompaulco]

I've heard him in an interview on the radio. He sounded like Frye.

Re:Too articulate

[pNutz]

This one correlates better, IMHO.

Re:Too articulate

[Lillesvin]

If I recall correct, Billy says somewhere in the commentaries, that the voice of Fry is just Billy West at 20-something. When hearing Billy speak on the commentaries, I think that's probably a suitable description, even though I don't know how Billy sounded at 20-something.

Thanks to Billy for taking the time to do this, I think a lot of us Futurama-fans really appreciate it. So who's next? David X. (or S.) Cohen? ;-)

Re:Too articulate

[Anonymous Custard]

Fry also sounds a lot like Stimpy to me. And you can hear a tad bit of Fry in Brannigan's voice.

So I'm guessing all that is actually a bit of Billy's natural voice shining through. It's fun to notice things like this and then really listen to different character voices, trying to guess which VO does them. (before you go look them up on IMDB :) )

Like listening to The Joker's voice in Batman cartoons and trying to hear Luke Skywalker (it's REALLY subtle).

Re:Too articulate

[Anonymous Coward]

Thank you! That piece is certainly an example of The Onion at their best. I especially loved the segue from the Georgics to GWB's "modest farm boy" pretense. If only The Onion could consistently maintain their quality at such a sublime level.

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[neonprimetime]

I thought letting your kid read /. was a good thing? Kinda like taking him to StarBucks for an $8 cappuchino. Makes him more sophisticated.

Comic Book : The Movie

[EvilCabbage]

Billy plays a large part in Comic Book : The Movie (google for it), a mockumentary about bringing a comic book super hero to the big screen.

It's great watching him in this film, he comes of really quite sly and subtle in his humour, probably something that doesn't come across too well in print.

Of course, the Futurama DVD's with commentary including Billy West are just hilarious, oddly enough I'm watching Season 3 again right now.

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[Tackhead]

> To quote St. Carlin: "Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker"

What, you got something against tits?

(Personally, the only things I ever want to have against tits are my own body parts.)

While we're at it, "Fart, Turd, Twat". And the vilest obscenity of them all: "FCC".

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[hotdiggitydawg]

Is that what it's supposed to be?

At my workplace, it's more like "for every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"...

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[NekoXP]

How old is your kid?

I have 4 brothers and sisters far younger than me (3, 4, 6 and 14) and they swear more than I ever do, and I am really good at it.

It's fun watching a 3 year old tell your Dad that he is a fucking wanker :D

Best troll I've seen in a long time.

[geekoid]

Well done.

Shame on you people who fell for it! ;)

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[bcat24]

Your kid reads Slashdot?? Him seeing the word "shit" is the least of your problems.

Thanks, Billy

[dr_dank]

If Billy is lurking about Slashdot, I'd like to thank him for answering my question and being a generally insightful interview subject. A follow-up question to something he said:

I have a question. If all the Simpsons could show up for the "Actors Studio" with no problem, why couldn't they......... I'm just being silly.

During the "Actors Studio" with the Simpsons, Julie Kavner (voice of Marge) stayed for only a brief time and mostly hid behind a Marge mask, not wanting her likeness to taint her cartoon and real-life acting persona. Mr. West has an understandable distaste for so-called celebs that barely have any acting talent to begin with that just have their voices added to animated features for the star power.

Is there a similar stigma on voice actors that only use their natural voices like Julie Kavner, not possessing a thousand voice talent like a Mel Blanc or June Foray?

Re:Thanks, Billy

[Anonymous Coward]

I, too, can understand a distaste for celebs that play at being VA's, but on those lines, I must ask, what of Mark Hamill? He is perhaps best known for his role in Star Wars, so he definatly has the celeb draw there. However, he has also done a considerable amount of voice actor work. I, for one, will always remember his voice behind The Joker in the Batman: The Animated Series, and as Larry 3000 from Time Squad.

Re:Thanks, Billy

[spyrochaete]

He's also awesome as Detective Mosley in Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers for PC! He took on a great southern US accent, and so did Tim Curry as Gabriel!

Re:Thanks, Billy

[EggyToast]

On the other hand, Hamill was so typecast that the only way he could probably get work was as a voice actor. He was so big that he was probably only offered certain roles that he didn't want, and the only way to get out of it was to only use his voice -- and not "his" voice, at that.

Re:Thanks, Billy

[LMacG]

You actually believe that Julie Kavner is using her natural speaking voice when doing Marge Simpson? Are you sure it's not her natural voice for Patty, or maybe Selma? No, wait, maybe it was as Timon's mother in Lion King 1 1/2.

OK, granted she's not a "thousand voice talent," but I'd hazard a guess that Mr. West's distaste is more for somebody like Will Smith in Shark Tale.

Re:Thanks, Billy

[aiabx]

I'm guessing Billy is ok with Mark Hamill, who plays regular recurring characters, but is more annoyed with the animated guest stars on, say, the Simpsons. There isn't much acting involved to show up and be yourself for a dozen lines.
On that subject, 2 further thoughts: a) my favourite Simpsons guest voice was Dustin Hoffman, who acted under a pseudonym, and had a substantial character.b) How do we know Stephen Hawking did his own voice? Couldn't anyone type lines into his voice machine, or a similar model?

Re:Thanks, Billy

[Anonymous Coward]

"Mr. West's distaste is more for somebody like Will Smith in Shark Tale."

or Will Smith in general

Re:Thanks, Billy

[Txiasaeia]

And there weren't guest stars on Futurama? Let's see... Beastie Boys, Leonard Nemoy, Al Gore, Stephen Hawking, Richard Nixon's head, Hypnotoad... if you want to get down on The Simpsons for using guest stars, you've got to take down Futurama a notch too. Bam!

Re:Thanks, Billy

[Relic of the Future]

"Best known" for his role in Starwars? How about "Only known"? Hamill isn't an actor who does some voices on the side, he's a voice actor who happened to get picked up to fill a live-action part the director wanted a no-name in.

He said just as much when he guest hosted the Muppet Show: "I do voices".

Re:Thanks, Billy

[Anonymous Coward]

Before he was Luke Skywalker, Mark Hamill played a number of different TV and movie roles. He even did one or two after Star Wars (Guyver, anyone?). Check IMDB.

Re:Thanks, Billy

[00Dan]

I understood it as an annoyance of "A-list" celebs doing voice work where they sound like themselves but play the part of a character. There's an art to doing voice work and just because you can act and convey emotion with your voice does not make you a good voice actor. Some can, but not many. In my own opinion, if you can identify the voice actor before you see the credits, they failed. Take a movie like Ice Age. Ray Romano as Manfred? I enjoyed it, but I kept expecting to see his brother Robert (Brad Garrett) show up as some giraffe like animal. John Leguizamo as Sid however, was excellent. Then look at Billy West. Philip J. Fry/Dr. John Zoidberg/Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth/Captain Zapp Brannigan. You can watch a scene from Futurama with all four characters in it, and unless you knew Billy West did all four voices you wouldn't be able to tell. /On that note, my least favorite Futurama voice is Leela. I like Katey Sagal, but everytime I hear her voice I think "Married With Children"

Re:Thanks, Billy

[Anonymous Coward]

How could he ever answer that any way other than, "Nah, we like them" without shitting on Katey Segal?

Re:Thanks, Billy

[krakelohm]

Oviously you never saw "Corvette Summer"http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077372/. I remember watching that as a kid thinking... wow a left side driver vette... sweet!

Re:Thanks, Billy

[Petrushka]

And there weren't guest stars on Futurama? Let's see... Beastie Boys, Leonard Nemoy, Al Gore, Stephen Hawking, Richard Nixon's head, Hypnotoad...

Just for reference, Richard Nixon's voice in Futurama was provided by ... guess who.

Re:Thanks, Billy

[Anonymous Coward]

that worked well in the biclops built for two episode though. I watched that again the other day and damn near rofl'd.

Re:Thanks, Billy

[Petrushka]

I like Hamill most as villains, like Ripburger in Full Throttle and Muska in Laputa.

Re:Thanks, Billy

[aiabx]

Yeah, there were. And I thought it was equally lame when the joke was the presence of the celebrity, rather than the guest adding to the story. The question you have to ask is; would the episode have been as good without (Alec Baldwin/Kim Basinger/the Beastie Boys heads)? Far too often, yes.
I'm not saying there aren't good guest spots, but which of them makes you say "wow" like Hank Azaria or Billy West? Damned few.

Re:Thanks, Billy

[91degrees]

There are a lot of actors who do good voice acting too. Mark Hamill is one of them. Then there are also actors who are talented but rely very much on the physical acting to portray a role. This isn't a bad thing, but they make rubbish voice actors. Then there are the ones who are just pretty faces...

Hollywood casting seems to be about finding people with recognisable voices, or happen to be well known at the time. Interestingly, Pixar seem to be about the only exception, and they're the most succesful and most critically aclaimed animation studio in the world.

Re:Thanks, Billy

[nomadic]

Alright, Al Gore's line of "I have ridden the mighty moon worm!" would not be nearly as funny without it being delivered in Al Gore's stilted, wooden voice.

Re:Thanks, Billy

[biglig2]

Well, I kinda figured it wasn't Richard Nixon...

Re:Thanks, Billy

[Mattintosh]

Have you seen Cars? If so, did you stay for the credits?

John Ratzenberger's character (Mack) is watching a bunch of older Pixar movies (modified to fit the Cars theme) and bragging about the voice talent (himself, over and over). Then he starts complaining about how they're just using the same actor over and over again.

I think it's this sort of voice-acting usage that he's complaining about, though this particular case kinda pokes fun at it.

On the other hand, that whole movie (along with most other Pixar movies) is an example of what he's talking about. Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Larry the Cable Guy, Darryl Waltrip, etc. all did exactly what Mr. West was complaining about.

Re:Thanks, Billy

[Elrond, Duke of URL]

And my favorite:

"I'm a fourteenth level vice president."

Re:Thanks, Billy

[Turbs]

I'm sure it was hard for the animators of Shrek to make donkey look like Eddie Murphy... but some how they pulled it off. :D

Re:Thanks, Billy

[gaspyy]

That's EXACTLY what I've been thinking of while reading his little rant on celebrities.

I loved Shark Tale, but it was clear to me that Oscar and Lola were modeled after Will Smith and Ms. Jolie.

Re:Thanks, Billy

[G-funk]

I agree in a lot of cases it's lame, but you'll find a lot of comedians make good VO actors because they've come up doing skits that involve impressions, and they've put just as much work into "funny" voices as the voice actors have.

Re:Thanks, Billy

[TempeTerra]

And there weren't guest stars on Futurama? Let's see... Beastie Boys, Leonard Nemoy, Al Gore, Stephen Hawking, Richard Nixon's head, Hypnotoad...

Just for reference, Richard Nixon's voice in Futurama was provided by ... guess who.

Who voiced Stephen Hawking?

Re:Thanks, Billy

[SirSlud]

Billy West's Speak and Spell.

Re:Thanks, Billy

[Anonymous Coward]

Who voiced Stephen Hawking?

Richard Nixon of course.

Re:Thanks, Billy

[evil_Tak]

Don't forget about Dave Herman, who was Michael Bolton in Office Space, and also voices Wernstrom, Mayor Poopenmayer, and Leela's dad.

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[bcat24]

While we're at it, "Fart, Turd, Twat". And the vilest obscenity of them all: "FCC".

No, there are two words that are even more obscene: MP** and RI**.

Re:Good News, Everyone

[bcat24]

Well, put it on the scale and let us know how much it weighs. :)

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[dr_dank]

Easiest way to keep them from having sex.

Roblimo phone sex

[Anonymous Coward]

Roblimo got wood while talking to Billy West.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

pirates

[joe 155]

one thing that I think was missed a little about the issue of piracy is simply that if we don't watch it on their channel or buy the DVDs then they just won't make it any more. The damn networks like to mess around with scheduals to the extent that they kill the shows; when this happens it falls on the more hard-core fans to buy the dvds and vote with our wallets to get it back. Piracy seems to harm that effort at least.

Re:pirates

[Kelbear]

Something that was covered, but not in detail, was that people like to watch these episodes conveniently, on their own schedule.

I'm waiting for somebody to wise up to this and invent a way to let us download episodes for free, while forcing us to watch the commercials, just like when we watch TV. Maybe allow them to skip commercials for 50 cents or so.

Perhaps a new file format that streams in interchangeable ads? Just need to figure out a seek mechanism that won't circumvent advertisements.

Re:pirates

[Anonymous Coward]

I downloaded many of the episodes to watch when the DVDs were only available in Europe. But as soon as they were released here I was quite happy to buy them and get rid of the downloaded episodes.

Re:pirates

[kimvette]

How do you categorize those who did BOTH: downloaded all the episodes AND bought the DVDs, including the monster maniac robot collection just in the hopes that more commentaries were included? (disclaimer: I haven't listened to the commentaries on that one yet)

Re:pirates

[wolrahnaes]

Why work so hard to protect the ads? When I DVR an episode of Futurama off Cartoon Network, I skip right over the commercials (well, except the usually amusing Adult Swim "bumps"). Why shouldn't I be given the same flexibility with another medium?

Re:pirates

[Kelbear]

The media companies aren't a big fan of DVR because of the way it lets people skip ads. The ads are what pay the costs of making these shows. Locking the commercials in gives advertisers the confidence that somebody's going to see the ads so they'll pay the price to get the ads onto the show.

I'm not a fan of watching commercial breaks either, but it's not a big price to pay.

Why did he leave?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ask him why he left The Howard Stern Show, the best work he's ever done.

He's impression of Marge Schott will go down in history as the greatest voice work ever done.

Re:Why did he leave?

[Duds]

I think you've misunderstood the way this works. He's already answered the questions we posted.

You're about a week late.

Re:Why did he leave?

[MarkByers]

Ask him why he left The Howard Stern Show

Billy: "All I did for ten years was explain over and over why I left."

I think he might be tired of answering that question now.

Re:Why did he leave?

[Anonymous Coward]

And who could forget the "Barbara" Booey prank call? Comedy perfection.

Heh

[Anonymous Coward]

What a guy, learnt a few things about Billy West there that I had no idea about.

You are totally missing the point!

[soft_guy]

The point isn't that some things, like Slashdot, are for adults. The point is: Think of the Children!

Sweater meat

[The Hobo]

That's one I've never heard before. Reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Marge gets implants and Lisa goes "Your endownment's bigger than Harvard's" (and it follows something like "and Lisa takes the cake for the best off the cuff remark")
Too bad I'm not at home, I'd upload the clip..

Re:Sweater meat

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, I'm thinking of switching to that from "fatbags" in my daily conversations.

Seiyuu ex machina

[spyrochaete]

I went to an anime convention a couple of years ago and sat in on a Q/A session with 4 voice actors including Scott McNeil. All the actors, but especially Scott, were always joking around and doing their voices for no reason. It was awesome hearing the one guy say "I love fluffy bunnies" as Cobra Commander and Starscream!

I asked the actors, all anime seiyuus (voice actors), a similar question to the one stated here - what was their opinion of their productions being distributed for free around the internet? Scott said that he didn't care one bit because voice actors are paid a flat fee regardless of the popularity of the show. 2 of the actors who did voices for Dragonball Z agreed with this wholeheartedly.

I get the impression that all but the most high profile voice actors don't see a dime of merchandising fees or other collateral income. It's a shame because these people are very passionate about what they do. The 4 panelists stayed way later than they were supposed to because they loved answering questions. Some people got up on their chairs and peformed some of their own wacky voices and the panelists were very supportive and encouraged them to pursue their dreams. I have a huge respect for these actors - particularly Billy West who is incredibly talented - and I hope the studios realize how hardworking and dedicated they are and reimburse them accordingly.

Re:Seiyuu ex machina

[Microlith]

I asked the actors, all anime seiyuus (voice actors), a similar question to the one stated here - what was their opinion of their productions being distributed for free around the internet? Scott said that he didn't care one bit because voice actors are paid a flat fee regardless of the popularity of the show. 2 of the actors who did voices for Dragonball Z agreed with this wholeheartedly.

Considering they're the second set of voice actors to do roles on the show as well as not financially invested in the show I doubt they'd care. They've been paid. The response likely changes as you get to the people responsible for the production of the show, both the original production and the regional localization. They've invested a chunk of change in preparing something for people to enjoy in exchange for compensation.

The voice actors are only one small part in the production of a show, hired to do their part (much like the animators, writers, and other staff.) However, justifying the warezing of shows on the fact that the staff is already paid is fairly poor, as one of the best ways for them to stay employed is the success of shows enjoyed.

After all, without financial success in DVD sales I doubt Futurama would be making a comeback no matter how huge its fanbase was.

Re:Seiyuu ex machina

[Anonymous Coward]

I get the impression that all but the most high profile voice actors don't see a dime of merchandising fees or other collateral income. ... I hope the studios realize how hardworking and dedicated they are and reimburse them accordingly.

The studios are not there to fairly reward the people that work for them. They are there to best reward the stockholders and/or owners with maximum profits, by any means necessary.

The standard contract (for cast, crew, directors, producers, whoever) in Hollywood may specify a certain percentage of the profits from the work (and, if you do all the research, you'll find that these percentages for all the contracts sometimes add to over 100%). However, the amount of these "profits" are determined by rather convoluted accounting which shows that there is no profit. Seriously; no Hollywood movie or TV show has made an official profit, ever.

Don't take my word for it. Ask Stan Lee; he had (has?) a lawsuit with the studio that made the Spiderman movies. Ask J. Michael Straczynski, executive producer of Babylon 5; he has written many times about this in Usenet postings, back when B5 was still being made. Ask Courtney Love about a similar racket the record companies run on musicians.

It's endemic to the business, and it's not going to change.

Re:Seiyuu ex machina

[Anonymous Coward]

Seiyuu ex machina...

s.ex machina?

I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[MarkByers]

it falls on the more hard-core fans to buy the dvds and vote with our wallets to get it back. Piracy seems to harm that effort at least.

Please explain to me ... when I download every episode of Futurama for free, how does this stop a hard-core fan from buying the DVD?

I'm curious.

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[joe 155]

because if you would sit and wait to download all the episodes it means that you at least like it to some extent... I would say that about 40-50% of the people who download all the episodes would have bought the dvds legally had they not have downloaded it. If you would not have done then fair enough... but if you watch it at least twice a week I would say chances are you would have paid up.

I think this is how I aviod the false logic of how every download is a lost sale.

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[Elemenope]

How, I'm curious, does one square "I'm not a hard core fan, sorry" with "I download every episode of Futurama for free?" Something seems off kilter. And of course the incredibly obvious answer to your question is, networks decide on the life or death of programs based on estimates of viewership, which can be accurately determined in only a few ways (nielsen ratings, or for cancelled shows, DVD sales). When you go, (and your million pals who have an equivalently overdeveloped sense of entitlement and concomitant lack of conscience), and download the episodes using another method, it does not indicate the true amount of audience desire for the show. I.e. you skewed the stats.

Thus, all of you who downloaded are not included in the number of people, from the network's perspective, of people who are interested in the show. That discrepancy can surely make the difference between a show whose future is secured and one who is doomed to scheduling hell and later cancellation, especially on networks like FOX whose programming execs are in fact nothing but trained number monkeys and don't understand other factors like show quality and artistic value when making determinations about cancellation.

For a person to download an episode that is a.) not avaiable in any other way, or b.) occasionally, because it was either the 'bestest episode evar' or he/she missed the showing, is one thing. Downloading a readily available series in toto is something else again. And while the /. crowd balks at calling the second theft for technical reasons, it is ethically equivalent as far as I can tell.

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[pla]

Please explain to me ... when I download every episode of Futurama for free, how does this stop a hard-core fan from buying the DVD?

Better yet, please explain to me how it costs the show anything when I watch it at first-run, then download it for free, then still buy the DVD sets when they come out?

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[MarkByers]

because if you would sit and wait to download all the episodes it means that you at least like it to some extent...

Akchully, nowadays you can get operating systems with 'multitasking' so you can download files in the background whilst doing other things like listening to music, writing comments on Slashdot and even sleeping. (Though you don't need a multitasking operating system for the last one.)

I would say that about 40-50% of the people who download all the episodes would have bought the dvds legally had they not have downloaded it.

I would say that 65% think that buying all the DVDs costs far too much and is a complete waste of money. Plus I am no fan of CSS. If they removed that stupid waste of time called DRM and region encoding and reduced the price enough so that I can afford it and make it more funny I might consider buying it.

But probably not.

Just curious though, do you think that I in the 40-50% of people that would have bought it legally if I hadn't downloaded it?

Clue: I have never seen it on TV so if I hadn't downloaded it I would never have heard of it and I would have just skipped over this Slashdot story just like I do with the Firefly stories or whatever that film is called that you lot always go crazy about.

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[kirun]

The media industry claim that 100% of piracy represents actual losses is nonsense. The opposite claim - that piracy represents 0% lost sales - is equally nonsense. If full-season downloads weren't available, a good chunk of the people who liked the show enough to download everything would probably have bought the DVDs instead.

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[MarkByers]

When you go, (and your million pals who have an equivalently overdeveloped sense of entitlement and concomitant lack of conscience), and download the episodes using another method, it does not indicate the true amount of audience desire for the show.

They are worried about getting accurate statistics? Why don't they subscribe to the BitTorrent trackers and keep an eye on how many people are downloading at any time? Oh I know! Because they are too stupid to figure out how to do it.

Anyone with an internet connection can figure out what the most popular downloads are right now and with a bit of investment of time and money they could get very accurate (not perfect but good enough) statistics from all over the world in real time. They could probably hire a clever teenaged PHP script monkey to do it for less than the cost of one of their boxed DRM-loaded DVD sets.

Please come back when you have a real reason.

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[holt]

because if you would sit and wait to download all the episodes it means that you at least like it to some extent... I would say that about 40-50% of the people who download all the episodes would have bought the dvds legally had they not have downloaded it. If you would not have done then fair enough... but if you watch it at least twice a week I would say chances are you would have paid up.

Perhaps if you watch it at least twice a week, but in my experience downloading definitely leads to sales. I caught Dead Like Me, an excellent show that was originally on Showtime, on HDNet recently, and I liked it enough that I downloaded the two seasons. After watching them, I bought the DVDs. There is no way I would have invested $90 on a show I had only seen once, and HDNet doesn't seem to show them in order so the continuity of the show (which is important for this series) would have been thrown off if I had tried to watch them on TV. The irony of the situation was not lost on me when I skipped over the MPAA's anti-piracy ad on the DVDs.

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[Anonymous Coward]

"They are worried about getting accurate statistics? Why don't they subscribe to the BitTorrent trackers...? "

Wild guess here: those are people who aren't paying for it and clearly have no problems getting it another way. They're the people who would be downloading the new episodes after someone else makes them available. If you're trying to determine if it's a money-making or money-losing proposition to produce a series, the number of people stealing it doesn't go on the money-making side.

(Yes, it's friggin' theft. Don't give me the "but they still have it" nonsense. You want it, they're willing to sell it to you, you take it for free against their wishes --> theft. And contrary to what might be expected, I'd be happy if someone found a way to sue the RIAA/MPAA into oblivion)

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[MarkByers]

If full-season downloads weren't available, a good chunk of the people who liked the show enough to download everything would probably have bought the DVDs instead.

Not me though. Sorry. I don't buy DRM any more after getting bitten twice and ending up with many unusable pieces of plastic (including one DVD drive that is now locked into the wrong region for the majority of the DVDs I have). They aren't fooling me three times.

Downloading from the internet is far, far easier. I wouldn't use their DVDs if they paid me. It's not worth my time to mess about circumventing DRM so that I can play content I have purchased.

Now give me a way to buy DRM-free content from the internet at a reasonable price, and I'm willing to negotiate. It's never going to happen though. Not while the sheeple are willing to pay $20 and upwards for all the DRM you can fit on a disc.

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[MarkByers]

Yes, it's friggin' theft. Don't give me the "but they still have it" nonsense. You want it, they're willing to sell it to you, you take it for free against their wishes --> theft.

Nice try, nearly slipped that one under the radar. But it should have read:

You want it, they're willing to sell it to you, you copy it for free against their wishes --> copyright infringement.

There, I fixed your errors. Much better. :-P

I know that both are illegal so what difference does it make what you call it? Surely crime is crime?

Well think of it like this... what if you went 5 miles per hour over the speed limit and I decided to call you a murderer?

Or if you took hash socially once at a party, I could start calling you a drug dealer, because both are crimes. What the heck I might as well call you a baby rapist too just for the fun of it. After all, it's just crimes and crimes. All the same.

Oh wait, you are probably one of those whiter than white people that has never ever commited a crime so you probably wouldn't understand the analogy. Forget it...

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[moo083]

I don't personally see anything wrong with this. You are just impatient, and I've been like that too. The company has made its money off of you. You are now in the deciding statistic, so no problems there from what I can see. I get things for free often, by the way, but never something I would have bought instead. Its like those things that you would love to have, but would never buy for yourself.

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[dakryx]

If you truely wanted to boycott all things DRM you should not buy the product as well as use/watch it.

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re-read the part you quoted. You are getting exactly as much use from the product you (pick your favorite euphemism here - maybe we could call it something shiny & happy like "shared") as if you had paid for it. You have all the benefits they could have sold you, you got them without permission and against their wishes. If you want to consider yourself the binary Abraham Lincoln ("He freed the bits!"), knock yourself out.

For purely selfish reasons, emancipating software or entertainment is not a good idea. Ask Billy West why Futurama is being re-started. It's not like they were manufacturing things out of unobtanium and the only mine closed. They got back together because everyone involved decided the money offered was worth their time. I'm NOT saying they're greedy, etc., just recognizing the fact that funny voices by themselves don't buy much in the way of groceries. Performers tend to want food, shelter, etc., just like people making "tangible" things such as car parts (or can we take those without paying for them, too? GM has to have a boatload of starters lying around - would they feel it if you took one?)

Finally, you don't have to be "whiter than white" to pick out the bullshit involved when people try to excuse their theft (I mean crime...underground railroad..whatever)

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[Catbeller]

Uh, semantic nonsense.

We watched Futurama on TV. For free. Thieves are we? Deadbeat hippies?
We taped Futurama for free. Were we stealing? Communist infiltrators of Hollywood?
We Tivoed for free. We stole the shows? (Are any missing?)
We downloaded the shows. HOW IS THAT DIFFERENT?

Taping, Tivoing, and watching were all Nielson-free (only a thousand damned families are Nielsoned at a time!) and didn't cost us a dime.
How is downloading different? This makes NO logical sense. Nothing is stolen. Nothing has changed except that the video is a file and you can send it over a wire instead of passing a tape to your buddy at work.

Every method of recording has caused executives to scream that they were being robbed, and every method has accompanied even more profits for those same executives. And frankly, making a profit using a specific technology does not mean that the universe and human law must change to enable a profit in the future. Sometimes a business dies because it no longer can make a profit because the world changed around it. Passing laws forbidding technology and corrupting the language and criminalizing perfectly legal and previously unimpeachable behavior are what is wrong! I personally think the corruption of words is the vilest of crimes against humanity. Change the meaning of a word, and you can disarm the sane for lack of mutually understandable terms with the rest of the speakers of the language. Just say "thief" and the debate is over with no argument possible, because the word has been coopted by liars whose ultimate goal is to make even more money and control people.

Enough manipulation of the English language. Watching a show is not stealing, and it is not a character flaw. I'm tired of being called a criminal because I don't have a meter embedded in my head.

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[Anonymous Coward]

Fox is evil. Supporting Fox by giving them money to propagate evil, is in itself evil.

I have no problem with taking for free from a network that does such harm to the world (like getting Bush elected/re-elected).

If that means there is one less DVD set sold too bad. I won't give Fox money. Simple as that.

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[Elemenope]

When you watch a download that has the broadcast commercials intact (and don't skip over them), I'll be remotely interested in this argument. Look, when you watch a show on TV, it was free for you, but it wasn't FREE. Someone paid for it FOR you (advertisers) in exchange for a few moments of your time during the program. So, they (advertisers) buy your time during the viewing of a program, and in exchange, you get to watch the show for the mere cost of a TV and a few kilowatt-hours. When you view a program without its production and broadcast costs covered either by an intermediate agent, like the advertisers, or by your hard-earned money, you are, in fact, no doubt about it, stealing.

I personally think the corruption of words is the vilest of crimes against humanity. Change the meaning of a word, and you can disarm the sane for lack of mutually understandable terms with the rest of the speakers of the language.

I agree. It ranks up there almost as high as sophistry in the service of a harmful act or a guilty conscience.

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[Elemenope]

I don't personally see anything wrong with this.

Me either. Like many arguments where people feel unnaturally overinvested (abortion is my personal favorite of this class of issues), often the middle (the sane view) is excluded from the discussion. Saying all downloading is bad is approximately as stupid (IMO) as saying that no downloading is bad. It gets particularly silly in forums where one side or the other of the issue is heavily represented.

This is not to say that extremism or unyielding lack of compromise is always bad either...it's just that most issues which are still debated are those of which there is merit to both sides of the argument; those issues for which there isn't have by and large worked themselves out a long while ago.

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[YuppieScum]

So, by your argument, if I go and make a cup of tea during the adverts (something you can do in the UK because there's one long break in the middle of a 30 minute show, rather than 5 or 6 short ones) then I'm "stealing" the show?

How about if I pause my VCR during the advert breaks when taping a show? Stealing too?

How about if I change channels?

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[Elemenope]

Here's where things get subtle, and if you think I'm stretching things, by all means disagree and make fun of me.

When an advertiser is negotiating with a network to place adverts in a program, they do so with several things in mind; the price of the ad is related to how many people watch the program at any given time, that some will pay attention to the commercials and some will (like you) go make tea, or even take the effort to pause a VCR to avoid them in the future. These behaviors are factored in to the original 'calculation', if you will, tht goes on in the advertiser's head when he tries to determine whether it is worth it for him to place the ad. However, despite the most assiduous efforts of the adphobic, the vast majority of persons watching the TV sit through the ads and watch them. What the advertiser is buying is a reasonable chance you will lazy enough to watch his/her 45 seconds of consumer candy; if you choose not to do so after the ad (which is embedded in the program you chose to watch) reaches you, that's not 'theft', becuase it was part of the original calculation.

Now, significantly, the problem with the downloaded programs is that, 99% of the time, the adverts are stripped out before the program reaches the viewer. Thus, it is no longer a choice or effort for the viewer to avoid the ad, it is done for them. The thing that the advertiser was buying, namely the ability to have a chance to get your attention, is gone, and their investment is made worthless. Whether that should actually be a tort or not depends greatly on how intentional the harm was, and its scale. Regular time shifting, single copies for archival use, stuff like this are (or at least should be) covered under fair use. Copying an entire television series with the adverts pre-stripped (such as what the original example was) is obviously enough of a deliberate harm that it should incur civil penalties. (Criminalizing this sort of thing I think is absolutely moronic).

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[Anonymous Coward]

Umm... There's not a "universal" right to tape broadcast television. Check out Australia's position, for example, at http://www.copyright.org.au/pdf/acc/infosheets_pdf /G025.pdf to see a fairly clear statement.

It matches my limited understanding of international copyright conventions, except that I believe an exemption specifically allowing "a single delayed viewing" exists in the US copyright laws regarding television broadcasts. I could be wrong about that, though, and the real situation here may be almost exactly what's described by the Aussies.

Anyways, you may be "stealing" the programme if you leave your VCR (or other device) recording while the show is being broadcast...

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[Anonymous Coward]

We watched Futurama on TV. For free. Thieves are we? Deadbeat hippies?

You realize you pay for cable right?

We taped Futurama for free. Were we stealing? Communist infiltrators of Hollywood?

Um, paid for cable, deemed fair use because you were not distributing or profiting from it by what is accepted as the correct reading of fair use by most people.

We Tivoed for free. We stole the shows? (Are any missing?)

Um, tivo is glorified vhs no distribution.

We downloaded the shows. HOW IS THAT DIFFERENT?

Ok, Here's the difference.
You obtained them through an illegal distribution channel. A television network pays the studio for the right to distribute the show to their viewing audience.

The person sharing the episodes give the studio exactly 0. So yes technically it is the theft of a licesned right.

Remember kids 'Friends don't let friends post without thinking'

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[hackstraw]

We downloaded the shows. HOW IS THAT DIFFERENT?

Because it was on a computer.

Human logic and reasoning stops when a computer is involved.

Evidence? Dot bomb (we can get rich selling dog food _on a computer_!), MP3s (they are still practically "illegal"), and downloading TV, etc, etc...

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[crabpeople]

"So, they (advertisers) buy your time during the viewing of a program, and in exchange, you get to watch the show for the mere cost of a TV and a few kilowatt-hours."

Um maybe if your mother pays your cable bill its free. Last time i checked, that $50-100 a month most people pay for cable is actual real money.
I dont give a flying fuck if advertisers are deprived of revenue. FUCK THEM. Its a war. They turn up the volume on the comercial breaks that i have to watch every like 8 minutes with constant repetition? I strip their commercials.

Anyone who thinks the current model of advertising everywhere is a good thing and should be preserved can lick a nut. Pardon my french but i hate advertising so much. It ruined TV, Movies, Video Games, EVERYTHING. Its spam garbage for the eyes and ill be damned if i ever let anyone convince me its societally nessecary.

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[LunaticTippy]

I watched them by renting the discs from my local library. One of the discs was a little scratched so I fixed that for them, lengthening the amount of times the discs could be used.

Was what I did immoral? I don't want to rip anyone off.

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[Elemenope]

What do you think? Is fixing someone else's property an immoral act? It's usually an illegal act, unless you have their consent, but since when is what is legal the determinant of what is moral?

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[Catbeller]

Use of the VCR (and Tivo and ReplayTV) to strip or fast-forward through commercials was part of the reason to use that tech. You mean all we millions were liable for civil damages? Where were the advertisers' torts then? How much do we owe them -- trillions? We don't. I'm sure we would have heard from them by now.

I think they didn't sue anyone because they had no case. And I don't think they have one now by simply extrapolating the earlier legality of earlier tech to cover digital recordings. Analog and digital recordings are no different, other than the manner in which they record, and the interests' assertions that they are different are not substantiated by anything other than just that, assertions, endlessly marketed. Digital video files seem difference to old powerful dingos like Senator Stevens of Alaska, and that is the advertisers and "IP owners" go through them to enact these laws. That, and media people are instinctively terrified and resentful of the new media tech that threatens their own power, hence their acquiesence to the rewriting of the concept of "theft" as applying to copying or recording in a manner that was completely legal before PCs started performing the task.

BUT -- your post is spot-on. Here's my take.

We the people who watch and record and even trade these video files have no contractual obligation to the advertisers who purchased the commercial time sandwiched into the TV schedule. I don't really care if they don't like it. It's not my problem. I can record and strip the commercials, and have been doing so since '87, when I bought my first VCR. However, I sometimes love to watch an old tape of mine and see the old commercials. I don't hate the things, I merely assert that I've no contract to watch them.

If the business model cannot support the fact that I can record and alter programs, then it should die and TV programmers should go out of business. However much they think they have the right to make people watch commercials, we can switch them off. Calling it "theft" is a new perversion of the English language. What they want is nothing less than a technological police state unlike anything the world has ever seen, for the sole purpose of maintaining a business model that may be no longer viable. We give up the fourth amendment, the right to be secure in our homes against unreasonable searches, so that TELEVISION ADVERTISERS can stay rich? Say WHAT? America dies so that they can live?

People made art long before advertisers took it over. People will make it long after we, optimistically, remove advertisers from the equation (not that we could: artists like lots of money, too). They've no right to live by legislating a police state to make sure people watch their jingles.

Just the obscentity of making the word steal work hard to mean "skipping commericals" or "recording a program" should make any person furious. Steal means "taking something away from someone". An object. I don't care how many millions they pour into marketing the concept, "steal" means "steal". Recording and watching video is not stealing, nor is it rape, perjury, contract breaking, barratry or murder. It's recording video. We've done it legally for over 25 years without being called thieves, and we aren't thieves now.

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[Catbeller]

"You realize you pay for cable right?"

There's this thing called "TV". See, it has an antenna, and no meter. It's been around since the 1930's. The world didn't begin with cable. Futurama is on TV.

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[LunaticTippy]

I think it's ridiculous to say you're acting immorally if someone doesn't profit from watching a show.

When I watch a show on a dvd from the library nobody makes a profit. Perhaps over time I will affect their purchasing pattern by a dvd or so, but fixing the scratched ones makes up for that. My behavour is legal. So these kinds of arguments are bullshit. What difference does it make if I watch a show for free with no commercials from the library or from a homemade tape or from downloading? No effective difference.

Sorry about that, I get all talky when people say that watching TV without ads is stealing.

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[Anonymous Coward]

"If the business model cannot support the fact that I can record and alter programs, then it should die and TV programmers should go out of business."

You do just realize that you completely justifed the all aspects of DRM and broadcast flags with that statement?

I do however agree that "breaking" crappy encryption in the pursuit of well demonstrated consumer rights should NOT be a crime.

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[__aajqwr7439]

You're not right in the head, and nor am I
And this why
This is why I like you, I like you, I like you

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[Penguinoflight]

You dont seem to understand that most of us who downloaded "every episode" of the show wouldn't buy it because buying tv shows is dumb. It's not a matter of the content, its the delivery, and the high costs.

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[dave420]

It would be good if TV companies used filesharing statistics of copies of their shows to determine ratings. Most people who download a show will watch it when it's on TV, so it's a pretty good indicator. No-one's going to download a show they wouldn't watch on TV... It must be better then the Nielsen ratings, anyway :) That would allow the benefits of DVD sales statistics (real statistics, not just small samples), but during a show's life, episode-by-episode.

or am I smoking crack?

Re:I'm not a hard core fan, sorry.

[Macgrrl]

For a person to download an episode that is a.) not avaiable in any other way, or b.) occasionally, because it was either the 'bestest episode evar' or he/she missed the showing, is one thing. Downloading a readily available series in toto is something else again. And while the /. crowd balks at calling the second theft for technical reasons, it is ethically equivalent as far as I can tell.

Most TV series of late that I have seen for the first time I have seen this way. Not living in the US, thi sis sometimes the best way to see the episodes before they have a few extra minutes chopped out of them to fit in a few more ads, or shown out of sequence, or put on indefinate hiatus or moved around in the scheduling to accomodate a sporting event.

I refuse to watch commercial television for a regular series any more. I made this choice after being stuffed around by the programming of the 3 major stations here in Australia with The West Wing, Angel, Buffy and X-Files.

Having watched a first season, if we like the show we try to find it on DVD. Sometimes they are available locally, sometimes we look to import them from the US/UK. If they are not available, we wait to download the next season.

Most of my more technically literate friends behave in the same way - prove yourself and we'll pay money, it you suck, it's the delete button to free up space for the next series.

The commercial channels lost this audience through the way they treated us. Why should we wait 12 months to see a series everyone online is talking about. Why should we wait to see them cut from how they were meant to be shown? Why should we put up with them pre-empting them on no notice for a sports event?

I like to make an informed choice about how I spend my money. I like to control when I see a show and not arrange my schedule around one when the networks can't hold to their own scheduling. I could be a good little consumer and sit through the ads or wait to pay for a show on the chance that it might be as good as I've been told. I'm not.

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[CFTM]

My favorite curse word is actually G-d. Seriously, what single word has caused more problems and brought more pain and misery to more people?

*Prepares to be flamed*

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[Anonymous Coward]

Your mamma be proud.

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[MightyMartian]

If your kid is old enough to read that interview, then I guarantee you that the word "shit" has been in his vocabulary for some time.

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[kalirion]

Man, poor guy aims for a +5 Funny and lands on a -1 Troll instead. I guess its a statement about our society that so many people took him seriously.

Show and tell.

[krell]

"Your kid reads Slashdot?? Him seeing the word "shit" is the least of your problems."

Especially when Aunt Doris comes to visit. Your little tyke comes out into the living room, and instead of singing "I'm a Little Teapot", he turns and happily shows everyone the new goatse trick he learned online.

Re:Show and tell.

[hajibaba]

You owe me a new keyboard; my old one is filled with coffee now. I'm just glad nobody else was in the office when I read that. I'd hate to explain what goatse was to my boss.

Thank you

[dysfunct]

I know nobody is going to actually read this and that complementing the editors is against the group-think, but still: a big thank you to Roblimo, Billy West, Kevin Day and the people who posted the questions. I really enjoyed reading this interview.

- mike

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[geekoid]

ah, well if he wanted +5 Funny, he should ahve been...uh...Funny.

Is it just me...

[Anonymous Coward]

or did he dodge all of the questions about the success of Futurama from internet piracy?
I know that I had never heard of Futurama till a friend downloaded all three seasons and I watched them at his place. I spent the next two seasons glued to the tv every sunday watching! (except when football would run overtime...then I called fox screaming cussing and yelling at them...they didnt like me)

Now I own all the boxsets and a good chunk of the comics!

All he says...he grew up poor...blah blah blah...depends on individual situation...blah blah blah...nothing really but "I really dont want to answer this question!" Then later he goes on saying that he thinks it had everything to do with the internet and dvd sales! DUH!

I am not trying to troll here, it just really irks me that he recognizes that the success partially came from how wide spread Futurama became because of the internet but then he just attempts to ignore that it wasnt just because there was an internet but because IT WAS ALL PIRATED! Sure there are those that download and never buy, but you cant argue against the fact that those copies were the foundation for spreading Futurama and boosting the DVD sales! Forget those low quality 50MB rm files, I bought the DVDs as fast as I could!

Maybe those were his real answers, but it just reads to me like "I dont want to offend the **AA's/Fox/whoever by saying that piracy helps, so I will just go with the do-what-you-have-to answer". In other words, a cop-out.

Re:Is it just me...

[kimvette]

(except when football would run overtime...then I called fox screaming cussing and yelling at them...they didnt like me)

When DIDN'T football run overtime, then has-been commentators recapping the game and THEN finally Fox would cut over to Futurama (already in progress) for the last 5-10 minutes of the episode?

Re:Is it just me...

[silverbax]

Well, did you really expect him to say 'Yeah, it's likely that we were successful because a whole bunch of people stole our shows, distributed them and watched them for free. I think, therefore, people should continue to steal our shows, despite the fact that it took a tremendous amount of effort, money, time and individual creativity to make each one. Why stop at downloads? Why not just pilfer them right out of Best Buy or Wal Mart and watch them?'

Did you really think he was goign to tell everyone not to feel bad about stealing? He couldn't just tell everyone it's OK, because that would just spur people on who already want to justify it. I really don't get this vibe from so many Slashdotters that ALL piracy is OK, and to stop any piracy anywhere is a violation of privilige. Just because Microsoft charges too much for it's products doesn't mean Billy West should automatically support the black market.

What about if he came out and took a hard line stand against the downloading of copyrighted Futurama episodes? Would you feel better, or would you blast him for his stance? He took the best possible stance. He wishes people wouldn't steal, but he appreciates that people wanted his work enough that it was worth stealing. Nobody wants to make art that people wouldn't even steal, anyway.

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[JesseL]

Oops, missed that one in the copy-&-paste.

Er?

[acomj]

If your bothering to download and watch every episode...

Isn't that by definition a hard core fan?

A casual fan wouldn't bother to go through all that trouble.

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[LiquidCoooled]

Whilst you are a bit of a troll, you hit upon something I pondered upon reading Congress May Add Record Requirements to MySpace here a couple of days ago.

Its that slashdot is a massive site with large readership and no protections for the younger people here.
Will slashdot and other similar communities be forced to comply with the logging requirements of a new law?

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[gowen]

what single word has caused more problems and brought more pain and misery to more people?

Money.

But it's close.

Umm... Question

[lbmouse]

"But you will ALWAYS have to buy SOMETHING no matter how you feel about it. Unless you're just a dyed in the wool crook. I always hope everyone finds their happiness in a way that hurts no one."

So does this mean that every time Billy watches TV, he never skips a commercial and ALWAYS buys SOMETHING they are peddling? If he does watch a TV show and doesn't buy something, then is he hurting the advertisers and being just another dyed in the wool crook?

Just needing a little clarification. His response made it sound like he doesn't approve of the watching/listening of media for personal use unless you somehow pay for it, ALWAYS.

Re:Umm... Question

[zippthorne]

So.. are you saying that you should not pay for art you enjoy?

BTW, the price of ad-supported TV isn't for you to buy something advertised. They only ask that you watch the commercials. It seems a reasonable trade to me and if it didn't, there's always the option of buying the series on DVD. Heck, FFW might even be ok depending on how the advertising campaign is designed, but even if it isn't, and he does, humans are flawed. We sin. Committing a sin, no matter how easy it is to do, doesn't make it any less sinful.

Re:Umm... Question

[wild_berry]

I took the comment to mean that you always buy something -- whether the HiDef screen, the HD-DVD or Blu-Ray drive, the speakers, the portable media player, the discs or tapes or what. Only dyed-in-the-wool crooks nick everything. You're not nicking TV by watching its adverts and not spending money on advertised products -- your money's already been spent on the equipment and license to watch the TV shows (whether a subscription, pay-per-view or year-long license).

Re:Umm... Question

[Thad Boyd]

I'm guessing he probably pays for cable.

Re:Umm... Question

[lbmouse]

"So.. are you saying that you should not pay for art you enjoy?"

No, I pay for art that a purchase... but yes, I enjoy art for free at museums and churches all the time. I know this is not 'totally free', but I don't directly pay for the experience. I also listen to music on the radio and switch the station whenever there is an ad. Guess my worst sin would be have to get up and taking a leak whenever there is a commercial *break* during a 'free' TV show like Futurama. Must be why I don't have any Honey-Nut Cheerios or M&Ms in my cupboards.

Re:Umm... Question

[Kaenneth]

Skipping commercails is as much theft as reading a library book.

Re:Umm... Question

[lbmouse]

Wow, on SD I'm a Falmbait and Troll. I guess I'm the only one on the Internet that uses Adblock and pop-up blockers. It was just a question. Be nice. :*

Re:Umm... Question

[Fittysix]

In some respects you are paying for the shows by simply watching them. As viewership goes up then advertisers are willing to spend more for advertising with that show, these advertisers are really who are paying for the show, but you as the audience attract the advertisers.

Schedules

[gr8_phk]

"he damn networks like to mess around with scheduals to the extent that they kill the shows"

I couldn't agree more. I quit watching several shows (especially on FOX) because they kept changing the schedule. That means moving it by 1/2 hour or an hour, or not running the show one week so they could show the pilot for some new show. Sunday night used to be our FOX TV night, but the irregular schedules got so out of hand I quit watching entirely.

Part of being a "good consumer" of TV is being a drone right? Part of that is watching out of habit right? Fucking with the schedule really makes that hard.

I'm about to give up on some newer shows too because of this new idea to extend the season with occasional reruns mid-season. When that happens, I turn the TV off (what? you think I have an alternate show I watch weekly at the same time?). It also makes the time slot more "available" to other activities because there is some question as to weather I'll be watching the show at all on a given night.

Give me a good show at a regular time every week without fail, without slipping in reruns, and I'll glue my eyeballs to it regularly and catch all (most) those darn commercials like I'm supposed to. The only one I think lives up to that recently is 24 and they're on thin ice with the story lately.

Re:Schedules

[thegrassyknowl]

Part of being a "good consumer" of TV is being a drone right? Part of that is watching out of habit right? Fucking with the schedule really makes that hard.

Being a "good consumer" of TV is being a drone, right? Part of that is watching whatever they shovel into your face, right? Fucking with the schedule doesn't matter because being a drone means you watch out of habit, not because there is something on!

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[Anonymous Coward]

All the 6 to 13 year old girls we attracted on April 1st?

OMG! Ponies!!!!!

Lots of replies but still no answer to my question

[MarkByers]

If your bothering to download and watch every episode...

Isn't that by definition a hard core fan?

Most of them weren't that funny. If they show stayed cancelled I wouldn't have cried or lost sleep.

Seeing as it's being continued anyway I guess I could download the new episodes. I can't see how a few more downloads can hurt anyone? Who exactly is going to not buy the DVD just because I download some files from the net?

I'm genuinely curious as to who these people are. Who are they?

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[Anonymous Coward]

"but the real thanks goes to Billy, who was so excited about doing this that he and I ended up talking about Slashdot via cell phone -- and he caught me while I was at a local lumberyard, thinking about plywood, not Slashdot or Futurama. I wish I'd recorded the conversation. It was totally surreal. But reading Billy's answers -- and using your imagination -- will give you a good idea of what it was like. :)"

If he didn't tape the conversation, how did we can the answers?

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[Shadow Wrought]

Sure, but do you really want them to be still living with you in their 40s? Every action indeed...

Obligatory

[BakaHoushi]

what single word has caused more problems and brought more pain and misery to more people?

Microsoft.

Sorry. It's /. I had to do it.

Did anyone else

[mgabrys_sf]

Think it would be great - after hearing the recording goofs portion - to have a video reel of the recording session outtakes included on the DVD extras on the next Futurama compilation?

With John DiMaggio's high energy it sounds like it would be quite a hoot.

Words of wisdom.

[Rob T Firefly]

I always hope everyone finds their happiness in a way that hurts no one.

Very wise words, but Billy should start watching his back. People assassinate each other for saying things like that.

Re:Lots of replies but still no answer to my quest

[moo083]

I didn't realize you were that oblivious to the answer to this question. The answer is, of course, YOU! If people enjoy a show at all, buy it! Show support, because the show is cancelled otherwise.

Old Navy Commercial...

[kapp]

great voice actor, no doubt, but hearing Fry (with a slight twist) pitching a promotion for Old Navy's mascot contest was a little weird.

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[K8Fan]

I don't think "tits" is on the list anymore (at least after 9 PM, 8 Central), and neither is "piss". I'm betting on "shit" being the next one of the "Seven Words" to become acceptable on commercial TV.

Besides, Carlin himself never claimed the list was canonical. It was just seven he picked on which to riff.

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[OrangeTide]

As if your kid hasn't already heard you say "shit" a million times infront of him/her.

"Shit, I'm late for work.", "Shit! I just dropped a piano on my toe." .. etc

I think I have a fair system.

[FatSean]

I will watch the debut of a new episode on 'the air' with commercials and all. Then I download that episode so I can watch it again when I want. Once the DVD is released, I buy that and toss my inferior no-commentary DVDs that I burned.

Seems fair to me.

DVDs too expensive

[Hoi Polloi]

I'd buy the DVDs (I haven't downloaded them either) if they weren't so damn expensive. Why can't they lower the price or do they think only hardcore fans would buy them anyway and they'll pay whatever we charge. I think they'd sell more if they cut the cost a bit.

Re:DVDs too expensive

[Tingler]

Amazon is selling the entire series for $118 with free shipping. The discs contain 72 episodes. Let's say that you don't watch any of the bonus features. Let's also say that each episode is 20 minutes long. That means there is 24 full hours of Futurama. The cost breaks down to just under $5 an hour. How much cheaper would they have to be?

Re:DVDs too expensive

[rezza]

A lot fucking cheaper than that. Some people support whole families on jobs that pay less than $5 per hour.

Re:DVDs too expensive

[Tingler]

If a person is supporting a family on less than $5 an hour, they most likely do not have one or more of the following: television, DVD player, electricity

If that is the case, they are most likely not in the demographic that the producers of this DVD are targeting. If said person has the 3 above items and is raising a family, they are most likely not in the USA. Again, they are out of the demographic the producers are looking at. If said example is in the US making less than $5 an hour, I would suggest to them that they shut off the TV & increase their skill set to allow them to earn more than $5 an hour.

What about the families of the writers & the voice talent? Do they deserve to eat? What about the people working in the factories making the DVDs? Do they deserve a fair wage?

I for one know quality entertainment when I see it. I think $5 an hour for such entertainment is well worth it.

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[Hoi Polloi]

Because he doesn't give a shit about his kids seeing the word "shit" when they read this shit.

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[19thNervousBreakdown]

Holy crap it's times like these I wish we could mod up to 11.

I don't believe it..

[kbox]

Not a single person asked him what the future is really like..

Shame on you, Shame on all of you.... and your children.

Almost right

[Anonymous Coward]

except that they (pirates) are not included in the network's perception of the shows audience correctly. They don't pay for the programming, so they were not an "audience" in the network's eye anyhow. Only customers that pay for programs get counted and only customers who pay are given more of the programming that they pay for. Business are easy to guage, buy something, I promise, they want to sell you more of it. The more people that buy it, the more they want to make more of it. it's pretty easy. Pirates don't rate because they don't equal a sale. It's the same reason those stats about "lost sales" are crap. Thieves were never going to pay for it in the first place. So I think the networks pretty much gague the audience size pretty accurately. and the audience for futurama just grew exponetially when the timing was right for it.

Re:Almost right

[Anonymous Coward]

Business are easy to guage, buy something, I promise, they want to sell you more of it.

Businesses are easy to gauge. Buy something; I promise they want to sell you more of it.

Also acceptable:

Businesses are easy to gauge: buy something. I promise they want to sell you more of it.

Businesses are easy to gauge—buy something, and I promise they want to sell you more of it.

Sorry. I hate run-ons. I'm also no fan of commas, but that's just a preference.

One Proper Noun

[sp0rk173]

Phil Hendrie.

That's all you'll ever need to know.

I am a hard core fan... a question for ya:

[Anonymous Coward]

I bought the full DVD box set of Futurama, but although I live in Canada, I bought the box set in the UK where it was WAAAAY cheaper and play it on my region free DVD player. Am I a pirate?

Re:I am a hard core fan... a question for ya:

[Anonymous Coward]

Am I a pirate?

Depends on whether the Canadian DVD you bought was WAY cheaper because it is an unlicensed knock off and you knew it (IE you paid $5 in a back alley), or if you got it cheap because Canadians don't like Matt Gronieg.

People like to buy, but why aren't they doing it?

[MarkByers]

I'm NOT saying they're greedy, etc., just recognizing the fact that funny voices by themselves don't buy much in the way of groceries.

Because these guys are close to the poverty line? If they would work for ordinary salaries there would be no difficulty in getting the money back.

Or if they made the product better so that people want to buy it, they get more sales.

Look at Microsoft. They are doing OK despite "theft" / "sharing" or whatever word you want to use.

People like boxes. They like collecting. They love supporting the artist even if it means buying into DRM. If people aren't buying their product then they must be doing something seriously wrong. I'm sure other professionals will be very eager to fill the hole they will leave when they give up. It is a free market after all.

Rather than putting your head in the sand and pretending copying won't happen, ask yourself why aren't the so called hard-core fans buying Futurama? What are they doing wrong?

That's nothing... this is far more SHOCKING!

[leoxx]

Your social security check is late! Things cost more than they used to! Young people use curse words!

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[Anonymous Coward]

While we're at it..
from http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/FCC:
FCC (Federal Commission of Cusswords also known as Fucking Cock Crammers, Freedom Control Coalition, Fascist Communist Cocksuckers, and Fucking Communication Cunts), pronounced "FUCC", is the body responsible for the education of the United States populace in the correct use of profanity. It was created by the Use It Fucking Correctly, Shithead Act of 1972.

Billy. . .

[kimvette]

Fave moments--
When I was doing Futurama we'd be recording and it was so hard to continue once because John Di Maggio couldn't stop bursting out into laugher every half hour or so. He'd get hung up on something wickedly funny from the script and it would set him off. Matt G. and David X enjoyed it even when I plunged in and started my nonsense riffing. We had to be shushed repeatedly. Then all in the room would start up at some point later when the "call-back to the joke fever" set in. It was so funny to see John in the corner of the room with his bead buried in a pillow so his thunderous guffawing couldn't be heard! Too many stories to mention...

Billy, I would love, I mean, LOVE to hear those outtakes. Do you think you could work it out with Groening and Cohen to make them available on your web site, or possibly urge them to post your antics on the new Futurama web site (which I presume will be launched) when the new series is released?

Re:Billy. . .

[Psykechan]

Or how about release them on the DVD when "Futurama: The Second Coming Season 1 er um 5 or possibly 6" is released. DVD is a wonderful medium, you can store both video and audio on those little shiny circles.

Cold wind of sanity for a moment...

[Catbeller]

We all watch Futurama on Fox, on television.

For free. It costs us nothing but electricity. Cable excluded, if you put up some rabbit ears.

So how are we paying for what we watch again? Commercials? We've had VCRs for over twenty years, and they have these fast-forward things. I used to sit there with the remote and hit PAUSE every time a commercial came on, and resumed when the screen went dark just before the show resumed. Rarely did I watch the commercials even when I wasn't zapping commercials. I don't think the advertisers went broke, and I don't think television networks went broke either.

And there's this Tivo thing the kids are all talking about.

So how is free taping or Tivoing not the same as downloading? They don't get paid either way. How is the download magically criminal and damaging?

Luvvie

[Cally]

You're an actor, huh? Shit, I never would have guessed from answers like this if you hadn't come right out and told us...

All of the VO's (the usual subjects) I get to play with ARE my favorites. Every day one of us raises the bar and inspires everyone else, I think. I don't ever want to stop learning or getting better. I learn every day from all my peers. Women and men. Their unique and perfectly defined voice characterizations leave me in amazement.

You remind me of a well-loved old UK TV show, 'Give Us A Clue'. The maestro of the show was undoubtedly Lionel Blair...

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[larry bagina]

In accordance with Megan's Law, Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda is a known sexual offender.

My rule is:

[miller701]

If an ad for an animated movie says "Featuring (Actor X) as (Charater 1)" and they show said actor with headphones talking in to a mike, I pretty much avoid it, because all they're selling is the celebrity, not the story.

Note: I can't recall ads for any Pixar movie using the above advertising technique.

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[Anonymous Coward]

psssst... You don't sound any smarter using words like "whilst". Actually, you sound like even more of a douche than you actually are...

Re:People like to buy, but why aren't they doing i

[Anonymous Coward]

"Because these guys are close to the poverty line? If they would work for ordinary salaries there would be no difficulty in getting the money back."

Remember that the next time people are in here whining about how someone in Calcutta will write code for $0.25 an hour. If cosmetic surgeons did what they do for the "ordinary" salary paid to the guy who mows your lawn, the world would be a prettier place. Tell me again why you get to choose what people are paid?

"Or if they made the product better so that people want to buy it, they get more sales."

OK, so people are only pirating stuff that's crappy? If it (software, TV show, movie, etc.) were good enough, magic would happen and no one would make it available for free on the net and/or no one would download it for free?

"It is a free market after all."

No, that would imply that each party has a choice in the market and that a transaction only occurs when each party gets something it values more than the thing it is exchanging. You must mean "free market" as in what happens when someone loots a grocery store.

"Rather than putting your head in the sand and pretending copying won't happen, ask yourself why aren't the so called hard-core fans buying Futurama? What are they doing wrong?"

Rather than pretend shoplifting won't happen, ask yourself what Frito-Lay has done wrong. Surely it's not just the age-old crowd of people who are happy to take what they can get when there's no one around to stop them. Continue to justify it all you like - I'll keep my head in the sand.

Pocahontas (not the disney version)

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a vhs tape of a pocanontas(not the disney version) cartoon. There seem to be no credits for the voices. It sounds to me like Billy was the voice of "dug" the dugout canoe, and possible John leguizamo as the apprentice spirit guide chicken hawk. IMDB doesn't show it. Can any one confirm this? (I know I didn't give much to go on)

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[jeremymiles]

Just today my 4 year old said "Why you say 'Fucking hell' Daddy?" It's a common question (with variants, like "Why you say 'shit' Daddy?", "Why you say 'piss' Daddy?"
It's going to get me into trouble one of these days; "Mummy, why Daddy saying 'Fucking Hell'?" They'll be reading /. before long - that'll sort them.

Dear mod-stalker...

[pla]

Try not to make yourself so obvious. I don't know who I pissed off, nor do I care - Just keep in mind that, on average, I earn karma back far faster than you can burn it with five points here and there. So, for your own benefit, you would do better to use your points meaningfully rather than to irk me.

But, as long as you insist on acting like a petulant two year old in response to whatever imagined sleight I've committed against you, I suppose it benefits us all that you vent your anger on li'l old me.

Kudos on your use of the un-metamoddable "overrated", though.

Re:People like to buy, but why aren't they doing i

[MarkByers]

I'm not trying to justify anything. I'm just pointing out that if Futurama wasn't so bad, more people might buy it. The creators of Futurama think it's their God given right to become billionaires and if someone sees Futurama and doesn't like it enough to buy it then they must either be criminals or insane.

Well they are wrong. They should concentrate on making Futurama better and if they can't do that, they should make it cheaper instead.

Simple economics.

Re:How about a Reader Discretion Advised warning?

[RobbieGee]

Shit, what the fuck is wrong with a few swear words? Is it the doubleplus ungood thoughts that might occur?

Re:Lots of replies but still no answer to my quest

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm genuinely curious as to who these people are. Who are they?

That would be you, you twit!

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[OrangeTide]

Yea. I swore once infront of my Mom and she was like "where did you learn to talk like that?". Then it dawned on her, that's how my Dad talks when he's fixing the car. Kids are pretty much going to pick up all your bad habbits. All you can do is ask them not to repeat the things you do or say.

Futurama needs Hendrie!

[Colonel Blimp]

Phil has done some stuff for the show, but he would be an excellent add to the cast, plus he is a good friend to Matt Groening.

I'd love to see an animated Bud Dickman

Re:People like to buy, but why aren't they doing i

[Anonymous Coward]

OK. On the off chance that this isn't just a troll, here we go:

Futurama (available for FREE if you get the Cartoon Network already) should be made cheaper (they pay you?) or better. You want them to make it so much better that it appeals to people who have no qualms whatsoever about downloading it from the internet. It should appeal to them so much that they want to go out and buy a copy in support. That model is called "shareware", and they certainly *could* go that route. The fact that they haven't doesn't make it OK to pirate the show.

You know what to do when someone offers you something they have for terms & conditions you don't like? You negotiate better ones, or you walk away. Taking it anyway is not done in polite society. I think I'll walk away now. Good night.

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[PSXer]

Semprini!

Don't change the formula!

[solitas]

In the name of Jebus/Ghod/Buddha/FSM/Cthulhu/Phil: DO NOT try to get 'edgy' and 'hip' like family guy did. It will be absolute death to a season 6.

Futurama was a nice clean show (with its occasional burlesque moments) and no one I've ever spoken with ever had a bad thing to say about an episode.

Everything worked just fine the way it was and if the FauX network hadn't been yanking the times all over the place the series never would have closed after 4 seasons.

No Fucking Shit you Goddamn Assholes !

[Anonymous Coward]

No Fucking Shit you Goddamn Assholes ! What the fuck was your intention with all this crap-mouthed spew from this double-asshole dickweed cock cunt pussy?

Did I get all seven?

Vocal Cord

[idfubar]

I wonder if his comment about his vocal cord is a symptom of thyroid disorder? I didn't know mine was until was too late and my thyroid disorder had turned into cancer which spread to my neck and ultimately took one of my vocal nerves.

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[stonecypher]

Sophisticated enough to spell cappucino?

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[stonecypher]

what single word has caused more problems and brought more pain and misery to more people?

Marriage.

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[stonecypher]

Whilst

Middle English != Formal. Whilst has had no place in English for more than 600 years. Posing only works for other stupid people.

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[stunt_penguin]

Only 11?

We should mod up to 42: when someone gets modded to 42, we know that they've just supplied us with the answer to life, the universe and everything.

Re:Lots of replies but still no answer to my quest

[JackieBrown]

Well he said they most were that funny. So while he may be willing to dowload a few episodes, he probable wouldn't dish out 30 -40 bucks for a season. When Battlestar G started, I blew off the first season. Then a friend of mine lent me the season that he had downloaded. I became hooked and now watch it on SciFI every Friday. I never would have dished out 40 bucks to buy that set but now I would (well not now that they sell 13 episodes and call that a season and still charge almost the same price.) And even if I don't, I do watch it every Friday, comericals and all.

THANKS /.!!!!

[idcard_1]

Thanks so much for getting this exclusive interview with Billy West! I never miss a night without Futurama! So getting his interview for the afternoon was a plus! Keep up the good work!

Enough manipulation of the English language...

[YesIAmAScript]

The Soviets stole the atomic bomb from the US before you were even born.

Stop trying to redefine the English language to remove meanings you don't like. It has been accepted that it is possible to "steal" information just by copying it for longer than you have been around. You're the one tilting at windmills.

And BTW, if you TiVo something, TiVo knows you watched it and reports it, whether you are a Nielsen family or not.

Downloading the shows is different because (ready?) IT'S ILLEGAL. The makers of the content have allowed you to watch it for free on a channel and (begrudgingly) allowed you to tape it or TiVo it. They don't give you permission to download it off the internet (in this case) and their permission is the only thing that matters in the eyes of the law. If they want to execute what you feel is a flawed business model (not allowing people to download), then that is their right. This isn't a country where the government steps in and tells companies that they are running themselves into the ground by not understanding technology.

It would be better if the companies wise up. They seem to be starting too. That'd good. But it's not up to you to decide to force their hands. Just like an object you can't figure out how to copy, if you don't value it enough to pay for it, DO WITHOUT.

Also, if you can't see how downloading something without the commercials could hurt a business who makes money selling ad space on the idea that you might view it, then you're pretty dim and probably don't understand the situation very well.

Re:Enough manipulation of the English language...

[crabpeople]

"The Soviets stole the atomic bomb from the US before you were even born."

Did they? They up and took a bomb? how did they get it out of the USA? Those old school nuclear weapons were pretty big. Im curious becuase i never heard this story before. Unless you actually meant they COPIED the usa's PLANS for the bomb, in which case they havent actually deprived the usa of anything. Its not even wrong for them to do this! Unless you somehow think that the USA has the only rights to make nuclear bombs...

"Downloading the shows is different because (ready?) IT'S ILLEGAL. "

Because you know, everything thats ILLEGAL is wrong right? Good thing all laws are made by god and there are no unjust laws. Otherwise we might have to THINK FOR OURSELVES and determine what's right and wrong with our own moral compass. Imagine how sick that would be!

"if you can't see how downloading something without the commercials could hurt a business who makes money selling ad space on the idea that you might view it, then you're pretty dim"

Do I care about the poor spammers whoes business are hurt by my spam filters? Why do you think these business have a god given right to make money? OFF OF ME no less!!! This is a new world. I get to say who makes money off of me. Im not a prostitute and the advertising companies are not my pimps.

Re:Enough manipulation of the English language...

[Catbeller]

"Stop trying to redefine the English language to remove meanings you don't like. It has been accepted that it is possible to "steal" information just by copying it for longer than you have been around. You're the one tilting at windmills."

It is not stealing. Those who are trying to pervert the word are those DQing. No surrender. George Orwell and Hayakawa would understand my point. Tyranny really begins when words are perverted, and freedom becomes impossible to fight for because you've no common language with those you need to make understand that they are being tyrannized.

L. Ron Hubbard has ruined the minds of thousands by systematically redefining common words until the real world could no longer communicate with his followers. "Crime" means something different to a Hubbardite than it does to you -- it means to counter Hubbard. There are no other crimes possible to them, after they are converted. And it's all done with redefinition. The bastard knew that, knew what semantic warfare was, knew how to destroy people's freedom.

The human mind uses words(=symbols) to understand the universe. Change the word, you change the universe.

So. NO. No surrender. Bastards tried to win by redefining the word "steal". To stop them, one must halt every corrupted, unwinnable argument about copyright and insist that the terms used in the argument MEAN THE SAME TO ALL PARTIES IN THE DISPUTE. Never stop, never give in. Or there is no hope, none, for the human race, for the symbol redefinition technique is infinitely flexible.

Re:Enough manipulation of the English language...

[808140]

I understand what you're trying to say, and I agree in principle that redefining words in a weasely way is essentially an underhanded tactic to influence people's interpretation of a situation and should be opposed at all costs, but your assertion that "The human mind uses words(=symbols) to understand the universe. Change the word, you change the universe." is essentially a restatement of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which suggested that language influences thought -- that essentially, the language you speak affects your worldview in a profound and important way. This hypothesis is now universally rejected by linguists and psychologists, because extensive study has been made of peoples who speak languages radically different from the dominant Indo-European and Sino-Tibetan languages spoken today, and those peoples exhibit no statistically significant differences in their interpretation of reality.

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis was very interesting and lots of people believed it to be true. But that doesn't seem to be the case.

For example, people used to say things like "the fact that the masculine gender dominates the female gender in french plural constructions is evidence that sexist thought is conditioned in the minds of french people," or to take an English example, "the fact that the correct English personal pronoun to use to refer to a person whose gender is not known is 'he' evidences that the very language we speak encourages the oppression of women." Unfortunately, lots of languages have no gender (like say, Finnish or Chinese), and yet these societies have been historically just as sexist as French and English society. Conversely, in colloquial communication the use of the third person plural pronoun "they" has largely replaced the use of "he" when refering to someone whose sex is unknown -- and yet sexism persists in all English speaking countries.

Or to take an example from F/OSS, since we're on Slashdot -- there is no distinction in English between "Free" (as in Freedom) and "Free" (as in beer) and yet, somehow, most everyone on Slashdot makes this distinction regularly, and it only takes a second to explain the distinction to pretty much anyone. If Orwellian Newspeak were in fact linguistically feasible (the concept of newspeak was very much based on the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which was widely held to be true in 1948), English-speakers would be unable to grasp the difference between Freedom and 'a transaction in which one thing is transfered to another person without an exchange of money, goods, or services.' And yet we can, and we do.

Language is certainly very important, but don't overestimate its importance. One of the main focuses in Linguistics nowadays (especially because of Chomsky) is the study of how exactly human language exposes the way humans organize their thoughts -- and not the other way around.

Re:Enough manipulation of the English language...

[dave420]

The legal and moral notion of "stealing" is based on depriving someone of property by theft, not acquiring something for free. Stealing a car is not bad because you get something you didn't pay for, but because someone now doesn't have their car. The only way for the Russians to steal a nuke from the US would be to load it into a truck - getting *a copy* of information does not deprive anyone of anything. Copyright infringement is not a crime, but a civil offense (in sane countries anyway). Copyright infringement for commercial gain, however, is, and that's not the guy downloading futurama at home.

So when you watch TV, you don't change channels when the commercials are on? You sit there, paying as much attention to them as you do the program they accompany, I take it. Otherwise, by your logic, you're stealing.

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

"... but if my kid is reading this then it might be a good idea to put a little disclaimer or warning on top of the article next time."

Oh please, it's not Slashdot's fault you're paying the price for knocking a chick up! If anything, Slashdot tried to help you avoid this mess!! Now go monitor your children.

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[Anonymous Coward]

British English != Middle English. Although I wouldn't say it's exactly common, 'whilst' is an acceptable substitute for 'while' in the UK.

I disagree

[jesterzog]

Most of his voices sound like Billy West doing them. Mind, Mel Blanc had a lot of voices which were recognisably his, too, but Mel could do some voices I never knew were his.

I've been working my way through all the DVD commentaries in the last few months. There's a commentary in the middle somewhere where three of the voice actors -- Billy West, John DiMaggio and someone else (maybe Maurice Lamarche?) were challenged to mimic Zoidberg one after the other in a double-blind demonstration for the listeners. I was quite fascinated at how they were all able to get an indistinguishible the correct voice so accurately. The one actor who sounded a bit off was Billy West himself (who actually plays Zoidberg), and that was just because he was trying to trick the listeners.

Most of West's characters sound pretty different to me, and I wouldn't have picked out that they were the same actor without being told... at least no more accurately than with any other actor. Perhaps you happen to be extra sensitive, but my own opinion is that he's a very good voice actor.

Well, if you want an answer

[rolfwind]

We watched Futurama on TV. For free. Thieves are we? Deadbeat hippies?
We taped Futurama for free. Were we stealing? Communist infiltrators of Hollywood?
We Tivoed for free. We stole the shows? (Are any missing?)
We downloaded the shows. HOW IS THAT DIFFERENT?

The difference between the first and second is that the company got paid in the first example by the network, who then reaped their investment back by selling commercial space to companies. Perhaps you didn't watch all the commercial or perhaps only a few, but other people out there undoubtedly did. There is some chance for the company to recoup it's inventment.

OTOH, downloading the show doesn't offer the company the same chance to recoup their investment. It's pretty simple, no? The other two examples are in the middle.

Now, I am not on the side of Disney with eternal copyrights, but as my company sells software, I can recognized when a shell game is being played in terms of argument. 1 and 4 is not the same. Pretty soon, other than with sites like youtube, simply capturing eyeballs will not be enough if that cannot be translated into profit. We'll be at step 1 and figuring out how to get to step 3. Commercials were once great for this, but now the consumer managed to get around this and it's become as effective as the honor system. I know the honor system does not work in software, if not forced to pay, over half of the people using your software will find an excuse why they can't afford to pay (while still using said software).

It won't be a surprise that if shows can't turn a profit, they won't be subsidized by networks any longer. Look at what happened to evening TV - there the costs went out of control - this time on the other side of the fence with sitcom actors demanding more and more money if a show dares to be successful. More than 1 sucessful sitcom ended their run because of such a thing. In turn, networks have turned to reality shows because they are cheap to make, there is no cast to pay much to, and a new cast is expected every so often anyway. Look at the quality of TV the last five years versus the '90's, especially sitcoms.

Now that was the fault of cost going up on the side of the content makers, imagine when the audience squeezes from the other side. This stuff isn't created in an idealogical vacuum.*

*Not I really don't care if TV networks go out of business. The internet is the future in media. In 10-20 years, I can see shows being made for the internet being financed by online viewership directly. I suppose themes/plots/everything will be pervaded by product placement so that there will be no commercials per se. For instance, the Simpsons will have to move out of their house because of flood damage and stay at the Marriot for the week, while Homer gets drunk on Budweiser (sorry Duff, you don't pay enough), etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[NekoXP]

Fortunately for my mamma, they don't have the same mamma.

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[vidarh]

A friend of my fiancee once called the neighbours daughters boyfriend a wanker (translation for the British English impaired: roughly equivalent to "asshole" in usage), thinking he wouldn't hear. Her 3-4 year old daughter promptly (and loudly) asked her several times "What is a wanker, mommy? Why did you call that man a wanker?".

The guy obviously heard, as word got back to the neighbour who later came round to her place. The mother thought she'd badly screwed up her relationship with him as he asked if it was true she'd called the boyfriend a wanker... When she reluctantly admitted she had, the neighbour replied "yes, he is a real wanker isn't he". Apparently they're now close friends...

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[Opportunist]

Personally, I'd wager your kid has dumped quite a bit of that stuff already, so he should be familiar with that matter.

Snide comments aside, if you don't teach your kids "those" words, someone else will. If everything fails, school will. Peers and janitors who hit their thumbs frequently are a rich source for very interesting words and combinations thereof. And I'd consider it quite positive if my kids learned how to deal with 'heavy' words while I'm around.

Because they WILL. The question is only, how and when.

Futurama on Inside the Actors Studio?

[Harald Paulsen]

A question I forgot to ask: Will we ever get to see the cast of Futrama on "Inside the Actors Studio"?

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[z0idberg]

you want him to edit the stories without reading them?

RTFS

[Random Destruction]

he and I ended up talking about Slashdot via cell phone -- and he caught me while I was at a local lumberyard, thinking about plywood, not Slashdot or Futurama. I wish I'd recorded the conversation. It was totally surreal.

Re:RTFS

[Finuvir]

So obviously that conversation *isn't* the source of these quotes because it wasn't recorded.

keep fighting the fight...

[YesIAmAScript]

"The Soviets stole the atomic bomb from the US before you were even born."

Did they? They up and took a bomb? how did they get it out of the USA? Those old school nuclear weapons were pretty big. Im curious becuase i never heard this story before. Unless you actually meant they COPIED the usa's PLANS for the bomb, in which case they havent actually deprived the usa of anything. Its not even wrong for them to do this! Unless you somehow think that the USA has the only rights to make nuclear bombs...

You realize you look like a retard, right? Pretending to not understand what I said just because of how I phrased it?

Or others:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312013493/104-85 97344-0175904?v=glance&n=283155

Again, they stole the bomb. Yes, we could still make one too, but they stole it. Look it up. You want to argue about the meaning of words changing, note that this one had this meaning a long time ago. It is just you (and a few others) who think that steal can't mean to copy information without permission. And it's been that way for 50 years. So stop trying to pretend it is others trying to reinvent the English language.

Did you step up to the plate to complain about the "Identity Theft" article slashdot ran last week? Nothing was stolen, just information duplicated. If you did, I salute you, but I really suspect you didn't.

Because you know, everything thats ILLEGAL is wrong right? Good thing all laws are made by god and there are no unjust laws. Otherwise we might have to THINK FOR OURSELVES and determine what's right and wrong with our own moral compass. Imagine how sick that would be!

This isn't a question of morals. You said the two were the same, I pointed out there is a difference. You can't use one as a substitute for the other when there are significant differences.

"if you can't see how downloading something without the commercials could hurt a business who makes money selling ad space on the idea that you might view it, then you're pretty dim"

Do I care about the poor spammers whoes business are hurt by my spam filters? Why do you think these business have a god given right to make money? OFF OF ME no less!!! This is a new world. I get to say who makes money off of me. Im not a prostitute and the advertising companies are not my pimps.

I don't think they have a God-given right. If you don't like the ads, you don't have to watch the show. I think that perhaps as a recepient of these shows for no fee you would be appreciative and not try to bust the business model that is letting you do so.

Either way, redistrubuting the show without the ads breaks the business model and will lead to the end of it. That would mean paying for TV shows or having no TV shows. Does that sound good to you? It doesn't sound good to me.

I feel the ad agencies don't have a right to force you to pay attention, maybe you should even have the right to press a skip button. But I feel that for their money spent they deserve to have the chance to catch your eye and actually present an ad you want to watch. By removing the commercials, you deprive them of that possibility. I do feel ad agencies have gone overboard thinking you somehow have to watch their ads, even if they are crap. I don't agree with that. They should have to make their commercials interesting enough to hold your attention.

This whole thing comes down to you deciding you're going to take the law into your own hands. That companies aren't doing a good job with their property, so you're going to take control. It doesn't work that way. you do have a choice, a choice to not buy their stuff if you feel it isn't worth what you're paying. To not watch it if you don't fe

YUO FAIL IT!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

You replied to the wrong post! n00b!!!

In the immortal words of the prophet Jack Chick: HAW HAW!

There's this thing called a "thread", see...

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[stonecypher]

British English != Middle English. Although I wouldn't say it's exactly common, 'whilst' is an acceptable substitute for 'while' in the UK.

Only among people who are fantastically bad at English. Your Queen figured this out four hundred years ago. Time for you to catch up. (By the by, don't confuse "common error" with "acceptable substitute." They're not the same thing.)

Re:Good News, Everyone

[Anonymous Coward]

I have just come across the Futurama plot and just would not resist on commenting this bore-o-meter comment... Sounds to me like a very common-sense based way-out-of-the-burning-water-barrel of putting things straight up... one would prolly know what the plot was about (think of anything that would suit a funny purpose and "put it on the table"), which, in my opinion, would imply that one would at least be able to detect interesting ways of wrapping issues which are older than earth itself such as "walt disney's cryogenic freezing" and his yearly appearance in the form of "walt disney on ice".
I should call it a day...

Maybe it's not.....

[XenophileJKO]

Elegance in form, layer upon layer, subtle and nuanced.... These are all there in a beautiful symphony, a masterful play or even a well-crafted program.

The level of these attributes all depend on the skill of the author, composer or programmer. I have no doubt that there are works of programming as elegant and nuanced as any of Shakespeare's works. For those who do not understand how to program, and even those that are not adept enough to appreciate the levels of complexity resident within a modern software system, most of you will never see the beauty of a well crafted software system. I will agree that the vast majority of programmers lack the creativity and vision to create a truly elegant system, just as most writers will never approach the level of skill required to write the next Romeo and Juliet. Those that do however can craft works that are worthy of challenging the greatest works in the human history.

The levels of elegant complexity in a well executed system are mind-boggling. Layer upon layer of systems simple and sleek on the outside, yet more complex than you can imagine on the inside.. all working in unison. Properly crafted these systems adapt to new conditions. The masters can design systems that truly "change themselves". The art becomes the artist.

I ask you think about that the next time you sit down and type a response.. think about ALL that is going on underneath the surface between you hitting that key and it appearing on this site.

Re:Maybe it's not.....

[dangitman]

The levels of elegant complexity in a well executed system are mind-boggling. Layer upon layer of systems simple and sleek on the outside, yet more complex than you can imagine on the inside.. all working in unison.

Oh, you mean the tubes? All you really need is a good plunger or robo-router to fix those. Preferably an alcoholic one.

Re:How about a "Reader Discretion Advised" warning

[Anonymous Coward]

Unfortunately masturbation seems to be mandatory.

Don't forget Sigourney Weaver...

[fahrbot-bot]

And there weren't guest stars on Futurama?

Don't forget Sigourney Weaver as the Planet Express Ship! She was wonderful.

Ship: It's not what it looks like. Uh, Bender was just helping me ... zip up my turbine.