Website News Archive
March 2001
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Website News Archive |
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Special Announcement: BBC Bonus! 29 March. A bit ahead of schedule, the BBC has just relaunched their Online Entertainment page in a snazzy new format, and as a result my "Featured Site" status has been advanced a few days! To see the listing, visit the page linked above and click "WebGuide" in the far left column, roughly halfway down the page. Copious thanks go to Nigel Smith, Editorial Assistant, BBC Online - WebGuide. Avengers Forum! 28 March. Over the years, many, many visitors have suggested that The Avengers Forever start a message forum. While I've thought it might be a good idea, I honestly didn't have the time to set it up and manage it. Recently a number of excellent "canned" message posting systems have become available for an attractive rate—free!—and I considered launching one when, lo and behold, someone else already did. So, why should I reproduce someone else's efforts when I can simply link to the same forum? Having struck up a deal with Alan and Alys Hayes, The Avengers Forever now provides direct access to TheAvengers.TV Forum, where you can discuss all things Avengers. Please visit, participate, and enjoy! BBC Honor Roll. 27 March. Just learned that The Avengers Forever, which appears in the BBC's Best of the Web (you'll have to scroll all the way down to see my link), will be their "featured site" next week—stay tuned for the URL. Nice to have some "official" recognition! In other news, the recent airing of "The Morning After" on Mystery! inspired two people to forward messages about the reference to Laugh In in the tag. Seems my video of the episode is so bad that I could not hear the sound of a single hand clapping just before Steed's line, "Sock it to me." Had I been able to hear it, I would have instantly recognized it as Laugh In's signature effect. Those DVDs will come none too soon! (Incidentally, here is some rather off-topic trivia: back when Laugh In was on the air, I discovered quite by accident how the production company created that strange little sequence of sounds that ran during the end logo slide, which went something like, "diddly-dip-bop-boop-boop-boom-tick-chah." A popular electronic organ sold back then had a percussion generator, and when one pressed each percussion button in quick succession, it produced that sound. Well, I say, that and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee—and me a visit to the loony bin...) And finally, the URL mess is not entirely over: as a result of spammers abusing UNI.CC, they have announced that they may be discontinuing their free URL service. URL Mess, Part II. 26 March. It would appear that UNI.CC was just "off the air" for a while, and the old URLs are working again. So, you can ignore the 22 March entry. In other news, I am being soundly reprimanded for having posted certain information about the missing episode. You will notice that the posts have long since been removed; however, some message forums have copies of my previous messages posted for all to see. I admit that I was quite overenthusiastic in my response to the news, and have taken to heart the advice to refrain from doing any more "amateur sleuthing." Yet, by having copied and pasted my ramblings into (multiple!) message boards, some folks with good intentions have only thrown gasoline on the fire by reproducing the very information I was admonished for having posted in the first place! Please, folks, let's use some care with the old Ctrl-C/Ctrl-V action. Thanks. Last of the Gales from A&E? 25 March. Emails have been circulating from A&E with the announcement, "The final Honor Blackman sets 3 & 4 are now available." This has left a lot of fans understandably concerned that the first half of the second season may never be released. The optimist in me would like to remind folks of their release pattern: that of using the year of original broadcast in the set names. Thus it is possible that the remainder of the episodes will be released under the banner of "Avengers '62." Please don't take my word for it—A&E is notorious for not announcing their plans with much clarity. Indeed, the fall release "voting" has been the first clue of what they may do next. When I learn anything concrete, you'll see it here.
Missing Episode? 21 March. Many thanks to all of you who have written about the rumor regarding "Girl on the Trapeze." I don't recall ever seeing this many emails arrive at once! At any rate, if it does indeed exist, it would provide a unique glimpse into the series: the episode was suggested to the producers by Ian Hendry, who began his career in the circus. It is also noteworthy that Patrick Macnee is not in this episode.
Behind the Scenes at the Website. 20 March. Judging from the long gap in updates, it must look as if I've been away on vacation, but in fact I've been making major updates every day. Recent efforts have been focused on upgrading images, and I have finally caught up with DVD screen grabs, which means that all Emma Peel review pages and Doppelganger galleries are now 100% DVD at long, long last. And courtesy of some mass-production "hack and slash" image editing, all 122 of the Tara King and New Avengers screen grabs now comply with the Canal+ copyright requirements, although the images themselves are not new. But there's lots of other neat new stuff for you to enjoy:
More to Read and See. 11 March. The four new Visitor Reviews include two more illustrated works by the increasingly prolific Jon Woods. "Mr Teddy Bear" has gotten new images at long last—and so has the Avenging Vehicles page featuring Cathy's two known modes of transport. (Yes, the page has been redesigned—the others will follow suit shortly.) Speaking of vehicles, Steed makes it known in his "striptease" scene in "Teddy Bear" that he drove a Rolls. Oh, and I almost forgot—there's a new Trivia Question. Last but not least, there is a bit of AvengerNews. (Thanks, Tom.) Say, What? 10 March. Seems an age-old mystery has lately been receiving renewed scrutiny, which has spawned a separate page that attempts to answer the question: What does Emma whisper in Steed's ear in "The Forget-Me-Knot"? And while we're on the subject, Emma does almost exactly the same thing in "Who's Who???," but so far no one has been willing to have a crack at it. Are you up for the challenge? In other news, Pete Stampede has returned with a pair of fine new bios (more like books) for Peter Jeffrey and Ray McAnally, and has greatly expanded those for Peter Arne, Anette Carell and Brian Wilde. He also spotted three more 007 Connections: Leslie French, Michael Goodliffe and Richard Graydon. And finally, thanks to Larry Blamire of Los Angeles, the unbilled stunter playing Gozzo in "All Done with Mirrors" has been identified. Happy reading! Avengers Fans, You're Needed! 9 March. According to So Young Park at A&E, you can now vote to decide A&E's Fall 2001 Avengers home video release! Will it be the Tara King episodes from 1968 or The Best of The New Avengers? Find out more about the two options and then make your opinion count. The option that gets the most votes will definitely be the next release, so choose wisely! Note, however, that the option to receive the least votes will still be released, just not this year. When you vote, you're automatically entered to win one of the following great Avengers prizes:
Voting ends at 11:59 PM EST on Monday, 26 March 2001. The final tally and winners will be announced on Tuesday, 27 March. Don't miss this opportunity to decide on The Avengers videos you want released next! Naturally Yours Truly has already voted. And what was my pick? Let's just say that it aligned with the overwhelming majority at the time of the vote. Pretty predictable, really—I mean, did A&E honestly have to ask us? This 'n That. 8 March. Fans of Jon Wood can enjoy yet another illustrated review, and fans of "Look - (stop me if you've heard this one) But There Were These Two Fellers..." can enjoy a glowing review by David Willingham. Here's a new link: "My Front Tomb" has a page on The Avengers—not bad for a single page! Plus there's a new screensaver from Terri. By the way, I'd neglected to mention that "Kinky Boots" comes with Kinky Boots—that is, a CD featuring that notorious song by Honor Blackman and Patrick Macnee is included with the first volume of the new Kinky Boots video. Something for a Snowy Day. 4 March. With the threat of up to two feet of white stuff, those of us in Northeast US may need something to do on a snow day (or two!), so here are 15 new Visitor Reviews, including two from new contributors and yet another inspired illustrated entry by Jon Woods. |
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on the Missing Episode... 23 March. It appears fairly likely that "
In other news:
It took less than eight hours to receive an answer to
the following trivia question:
What brand and design are the cards used in the closing credits of the