# Sequels you have decided don't exist. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 27, 2004, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-have-decided-dont-exist/257111 "2004-07-27T15:58:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-have-decided-dont-exist/257111/81 "2004-07-29T02:08:38Z")
Don McClean made a parody of his own song, with a funny dream that Madonna made a butchered remake or ‘American Pie’. Good thing Madonna got the hint and went to study Kabbalah instead of doing that remake. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-have-decided-dont-exist/257111/82 "2004-07-29T04:49:33Z")
> [@snorlax](#): > > Long ago I read a to-the-point review in the New York Times TV Listings for a late night showing of one of the sequels: > > 11PM **Beneath the Planet of the Apes:** And how. I’ll definitely concede Battle for & Conquest of tPotA, but you’ll pry Beneath & Escape from my cold dead damn dirty ape fingers _G_ ---
**Author:** ![supervenusfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-have-decided-dont-exist/257111/83 "2004-07-29T15:45:31Z")
My father - in - law used to work for the studio that they filmed Garry Marshall’s TV shows , back in the 70’s. He had some wild stories to tell about them for sure. For some reason Garry went on a California location kick. First he wanted to film some episodes of “Happy Days” there and even have The Fonz jump over a shark. Thank heavens somebody told him about all of the technical difficulties that Spielberg had with his mechanical shark and he changed his mind. ``` Then he was going to have "Laverne and Shirley" move there permanently! I just cannot imagine that show without the ambiance and grit of Milwaukee! No Pizza Bowl? No Shotz brewery? Pshaw! I think the hairiest story though was when Ron Howard was going through contract negotiations and wanted to leave the show. They threatened to replace him with some pretty boy actor and he fell back in line. ``` ---
**Author:** ![thermalribbon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@thermalribbon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thermalribbon)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-have-decided-dont-exist/257111/84 "2004-07-29T17:39:13Z")
Michael Mann directed this great movie **Manhunter** starring William Peterson and Dennis Farina in the late 80’s. I thought after **Silence of the Lambs** came out and was so successful, they decided they were going to remake Manhunter under the book’s original title **Red Dragon**. I’m glad as shit that they decided against that. That would suck to ruin such a great spellibinding and atmospheric thriller and turn it into some cheap substitute. ---
**Author:** ![Ross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@Ross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ross)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-have-decided-dont-exist/257111/85 "2004-07-29T18:05:00Z")
> [@Mockingbird](#): > > In a segment of an episode of Family Guy, Brian takes a blind man to see the Blair With Project and is describing it to him finishing with: "Everyone’s leaving. They look pissed.’ His description consisted of the following, iirc: “nothing’s happening… nothing’s happening… nothing’s happening… it’s over. A lot of people look pissed.” > [@capacitor](#): > > Also, I like the way the Highlander TV series ended, with McLeod walking away from it all after getting involved in a brutal mission against a master illusionist, who tricked McLeod into accidentally killing Ritchie. No need to follow that thief Raven. Regarding _Highlander,_ check out [Clan Denial](http://www.clandenial.org) (“We Didn’t See It. It Didn’t Happen.”) ---
**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-have-decided-dont-exist/257111/86 "2004-07-29T19:16:52Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > I seem to recall a similar thread on this a while back[…] Here ya go: [Highlander 2, Star Trek V, and other things that didn’t happen](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=222400) ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-have-decided-dont-exist/257111/87 "2004-07-29T21:20:20Z")
> [@Andros\_X](#): > > Star Trek: Nemesis. What a piece of crap. I’m sorry, I don’t know what you are talking about. Luckily, they stopped making Star Trek films after First Contact. In other news, I’m just glad that nobody ever tried to write a crappy fan fiction sequel to the classic novel _Les Miserables_, and even go so far as to bring a dead character back from the dead. I’m also glad that they never tried to expand on the Monkey Island Trilogy, and that the ending to “Curse” was a wonderful ending to the whole serious, and not, as I had feared, a cheap couple of levels thrown together completely at the last minute. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-have-decided-dont-exist/257111/88 "2004-07-29T22:34:59Z")
I heard that after the second season of _Sliders,_ the writers ran out of cool alternate-history ideas and decided just to have their heroes pop into worlds more or less like our own, where, for no apparent reason, they would get caught up in plots recognizably ripped off from well-known movies (_Twister, Dawn of the Dead,_ etc.). That would have been really lame. Good thing they just decided to cancel the series. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-have-decided-dont-exist/257111/89 "2004-07-29T22:38:05Z")
There is only one Highlander movie. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-have-decided-dont-exist/257111/90 "2004-07-29T23:03:57Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Damn straight - those 5 books were perfect. I thought Zelazny wrote 10 books. ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-have-decided-dont-exist/257111/91 "2004-07-30T00:05:25Z")
You know, Star Trek was a great TV show, and Star Trek: The Next Generation, although it started out shaky, ended up almost eclipsing the original. Deep Space Nine was good, if too convoluted, and even Voyager didn’t stink all that bad. But now it’s been, what, three years or so since there’s been a new entry in the Star Trek franchise on TV. Has anybody heard if there is ever going to be another Star Trek TV series? I remember hearing rumors that they were thinking of trying a series set in a time before the original, but I guess they wisely decided to scrap that idea. ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-have-decided-dont-exist/257111/92 "2004-07-30T00:25:55Z")
Ok, here’s one to weed out the old folks from the young: I have really fond memories of reading those three “Stainless Steel Rat” books from Harry Harrison; they were just downright fun. I gotta applaud Harry for resisting the temptation to try to milk every last drop out of the idea. I mean, where could the series have gone? The Rat has children? Or maybe that last resort of the series-with-nowhere-left-to-go, prequels? ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-have-decided-dont-exist/257111/93 "2004-07-30T00:27:08Z")
…the Lone Gunmen are not dead!!! THEY ARE NOT DEAD DAMMIT!!! :: sobs :: ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-have-decided-dont-exist/257111/94 "2004-07-30T00:32:37Z")
Remember _Meatballs_? Man, that was a funny movie. Yep, a perfect little teen comedy. Thankfully, they never made any sequels. I mean, what else could they do? Have [an alien](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087700/) in the camp? Ha! That would be stupid. Oooh, wait, how about a [dead porn star](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093516/)? What the hell, they might as well [threaten to close the camp](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104837/) unless the campers can win a contest. Nah, that would be ripping off the real movie. ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-have-decided-dont-exist/257111/95 "2004-07-30T00:39:11Z")
And wasn’t it nice that Roger Moore decided to gracefully bow out of the James Bond movies on a high note, after “Octopussy”? ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Norder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@Dan\_Norder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Norder)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-have-decided-dont-exist/257111/96 "2004-07-30T04:32:16Z")
I’m thankful that Dr. Who series went out with a bang with the episode “The Five Doctors.” Not that Peter Davison was necessarily bad or anything, but the writing was sure taking a dive toward the end there, and it’d really suck if it got even worse somehow. And of course there’s no way anyone at the BBC would ever let a Fox television touch the series, so rumors that it was being discussed at one point were just clueless yammering. And I am so glad that the fan wank authors who wanted to try to make new novels based upon the property were told that they not get to have their names on officially sanctioned books. I think it was going overboard to sick the Russian maffia on them so they were too afraid to even post their writing on fan websites, but, nonetheless, I was glad the Beeb felt strongly about protecting the character from such hacks. I also hear Clive Barker gave up plans to write a sequel to The Great and Secret Show. It’s kind of a shame, as I was looking forward to seeing where he could go with the utterly bizarre and alien dimension and the interesting characters. Rumor has it some clueless fan put together some long romance novel in which the dimension becomes populated by fantasy races and the characters from the first get killed off in a pointless sidebar. I hear Clive is only doing children’s books, paintings and the occasional movie now and then. It sounds kind of odd, but whatever makes him happy. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-have-decided-dont-exist/257111/97 "2004-07-30T05:18:27Z")
I’m really glad that on _Married With Children_, Marcy Rhodes never remarried after Steve left. I’d hate to see someone like, oh, Ted McGinty join the cast and totally wreck the show. Also glad that neither Peg nor Marcy got pregnant during the run of the series, and they found a way to shoot around the expanding bellies, especially considering that after Katy Sagal lost her baby they would have had to retcon the pregnancies out of the storyline by doing the “Patrick Duffy in the shower” thing where it was all a horrible dream. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-have-decided-dont-exist/257111/98 "2004-07-30T07:27:15Z")
> [@Jeff Olsen](#): > > I thought Zelazny wrote 10 books. That’s a common misconception. In fact, _there were only five Amber books_. There were rumors of him considering writing a follow-up about Corwin’s son, but he called it off after he realised he couldn’t put together a coherent storyline. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-have-decided-dont-exist/257111/99 "2004-07-30T07:41:38Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > I’m sorry, I don’t know what you are talking about. Luckily, they stopped making Star Trek films after First Contact. Yeah…though wasn’t it funny how the _Enterprise-D_ wasn’t in First Contact? It’s almost like something happened to it…nah, impossible. I mean, it was never even featured in a movie, much less a movie where it got destroyed. You know, maybe it’s time they started thinking about making another Star Trek series…I mean, it’s been 10 years since the Paramount studio lot fire which destroyed the DS9 sets and all the pre-production material for that “Voyager” series they were working on. Though I can understand how the disaster so upset Braga and Berman that they quit showbiz to become Amish monks. ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-have-decided-dont-exist/257111/100 "2004-07-30T16:34:45Z")
I always liked that book _Outlander_. For a while, I thought a sequel would be nice, but then I realized that Diana Gabaldon doesn’t have much by way of a plot, so she’d just have to fill any following novels with tons of boring mundane details about their daily life, and probably acts of utter stupidity in order to create any sort of conflict. Oh, and some silly sex too. But luckily, the book was allowed to just stand alone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-have-decided-dont-exist/257111.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-you-have-decided-dont-exist/257111.md?page=6)