So, we go and announce that we're going to be covering urban fantasy as well as sci-fi, and less people respond to that than they do the news that David Tennant is leaving Doctor Who at the end of next year. I can't decide if that's heartwarming or a sign of you people being a little too into poor Mr. Tennant. While I'm busy thinking about that, you can sound off about why our hoodies suck (You're wrong) and why M. Night Shyamalan may be the scariest director in Hollywood. Yes, it's Sunday afternoon and we're commenting on the comments. It's like a snake eating its own tail - but messier.This just in: It's a good thing you lot aren't in charge of the BBC, considering the disagreements over who should be the new Doctor Who:
OlavRokne: "I'd kind of like to see an older doctor this time. Someone with the gravitas and dignity of Sir Ian McKellan or Anthony Hopkins." str88f: "Right, bring on Michael Gambon!" Doctor Who?: "Well, I'm now throwing my backing, which is of course worth nothing, behind Rowan Atkinson." Mark Kardwell: "Black Doctor next. Paterson Joseph, good, but unfortunately not enough star power. Idris Elba or Chiwetel Ejiofor for the job." dimphoenix: "I vote for Joanna Lumley!!!!!!!!!!" stormycat: "Now it's time for one of the Top Gear presenters to make his move." ElijahDProphet: "I am pulling for Mos Def." kevinjwoods: "just think only a year away from the revelation that jimmy krankie is the doctor (this joke is funnier in scottish)" Mouser_UK: "as some one said Chiwetel Ejiofor or Eddie Izzard" evilninjapinguin: "James Callis?"
Okay, firstly, the Jimmie Krankie joke? Maybe less obscure if you're Scottish, but definitely not funnier. The Krankies were always fucking terrifying, even when you were a kid, but at least it showed that Britain as a country didn't have any issues with introducing (without prejudice) the concepts of crossdressing and incest to children at an early age. More importantly: ElijahDProphet wins. Mos Def as the Doctor? I wholeheartedly support that idea, as unlikely as it is to ever coming true. If ever there was a comment on this site that I agreed with, it's that one... well, there's another, but I'll get to that in a bit. Anyway, as scattered as the io9 Faithful may have been to that choice, the widening of the official io9 remit to include Urban Fantasy was met with what sure seemed like approval (Sorry, Rek), even if a lot of you seemed to have problems with the idea of genre distinctions being used at all:
DrEmilioLizardo: "Don't get me wrong, I love the sight (obviously, by my regular contributions to the comments) but call it what it is - a geek news aggregator and blog with a science fiction bent. And a very entertaining one at that. I'm glad you are finally starting to admit it. In general, we geeks are like everybody else; we should be more inclusive and less exclusive." vinylrake: "I hate to use the analogy, but I will since it's reasonably accurate: io9 is just a sci-fi site in the same way that Fringe is a tv show just about science. The outer edges of what you cover are imo often pretty far removed from science-fiction, but it's almost always interesting and is very good stuff, so if you can expand your coverage of good stuff with a new rationale or label then I am all for it. besides 'urban fantasy' sounds so.... all grown up and trendy and stuff." allread5: "Aw crap, you're going to get the Imagination Police called down on us, all telling everyone they're not allowed to imagine scientifically impossible things." lukeoneil47: "Second the suggestion that this should just be an all purpose sci-fi, fantasy, comics, nerd blast. Who cares about genre or medium distinctions?" avidreader514: "Once you started talking about comics and pulp (and Chuck, which is sci-fi only by microscopic measure), I knew that covering fantasy topics was only a step away. Specialization is for insects, as RAH said." ArthurPDragon: ""Urban fantasy." What's that? Fantasy involving minorities? Just suck it up and expand your coverage to "Fantasy" and let the Hobbits and wizards in. You've been cheating far too long already."
Cheating? Cheating? Next thing you'll tell me that The Spirit isn't really sci-fi because it normally contains no sci-fi elements at all, to which I say: Adolf Hitler Analogs In Space! and then run away. But to everyone concerned that, as Grey_Area put it, we're in danger of ending up hip-deep in hobbits and Ren Faire rejects, don't worry; that's entirely not our plan (and we're relying on you lot to keep us on the right track; don't get too big a head about that). Which leads me to my next point: The Dresden Files got mentioned a couple of times in that comments thread, and I know nothing about it beyond the fact that it exists - Does anyone out there care to explain to me what it's all about and why we should be covering it? Same with all the people asking for Supernatural; you're going to have to convince me that it's worth watching, because all I really know about it is that Rory's non-Jess boyfriend from Gilmore Girls is in it doing some kind of demon Smallville... and that doesn't make it sound that promising. Use the comments here to change my mind. (Of course, everyone who saw this as an excuse for some Pushing Daisies coverage? You've already seen the start of my gushing about that show.) If you must define io9, then kolacek accidentally came up with my best definition while talking about the io9 logo hoodie on Friday:
I am buying an i09 hoodie and I am gunna make all of my douchebag hipster friends buy them.
"io9: The Site For Douchebag Hipsters" has a certain ring to it, doesn't it? Go on; it's okay to admit it (Proof of my own douchebagginess, if not hipsterness, was sadly given to the masses on Friday, although I thank DarleneHippocoon and dailyread for their polite and charitable takes on what can only be described as one of my lesser moments caught on camera). That same hoodie caused some stir when you kids complained that the image looked like Cthulhu's underpants (which sounds like a good thing in my book). Not as much stir as the accusation of accidental racism over the Star Trek reference on Wednesday's shirt, but there's still time. And to twophrasebark: If you think that t-shirts are tacky, you're saying we should cancel the line of Meredith Woerner action figures we were planning on rushing into stores in time for the holiday rush? Really? The real Meredith, meanwhile, closed out the week by listing out the 50 Scariest SF Movie Moments - a list that united you in a shared terror for the work of M. Night Shyamalan:
B: "Scariest moment in signs: Realizing I payed 7 bucks to watch that piece of garbage." Discodave: "Absolutely agree with you: I was on a road trip across the States, in a tiny theatre in Ohio surrounded by corn fields and that film was still the lamest waste of celluloid it's ever been my misfortune to see." astrocramp: "Way scarier was rolling my eyes through "The Happening", watching the pathetic editing and acting over the utter waste of 90 minutes."
(That said, I completely agree with those who had the crap scared out of them by The Ring.) And so, we close out this week waving goodbye to dressing up in public without getting funny looks, and looking ahead to Tuesday's US election and an io9 that may still turn away from hobbits, but will finally let John Constantine in, even if he's played by Keanu Reeves. Feel free to use the comments here as an Open Thread to tell us what we're doing right, what we're doing wrong, and what we should be covering that we're not - although give us reasons for that last one, please. It's Sunday afternoon. I'm sure you're all feeling chatty, right?