griffith@dweeb.fx.com (Jim Griffith) (09/24/90)
About a month ago, I wrote a letter to Richard Arnold. I had seen him at Timecon '90, where he commented at one point how annoyed the people at TNG were about a rumor started by someone on CompuServe or GeNIE that Patrick Stewart was holding out for the fourth season. I pointed out that we had heard several rumors in the past which turned out to be false, and that if he wanted to at least contain these rumors, he might want to have a more active presence on the networks (naturally, I was volunteering my services...). I received his reply a week ago. Based on a discussion in r.a.s., I thought I'd post his response. Dear Jim, Thank you for your letter and for the material from the USENET STAR TREK bulletin board. My opinion of computer networks aside, the fact is that we do not supply information on this show to anyone except the TV stations that are running the show ad the press. Bulletin boards, by their very nature, cannot be controlled, and we must have control over our publicity. The fact that I am mis- quoted as often as I am in the material that you sent me, and that so often misinformed individuals send messages that only make our rumor control worse, only makes it clearer that it is best for us to simply not get involved with this entire area. [Note - I sent him a copy of a convention report that was posted to r.a.s.i. It contained information I considered to be completely accurate - Jim] Besides, as you must understand, when Mike, Rick, myself or anyone else speaks at a convention, we are doing so because we have been invited to do so. We are not sent by the studio, nor are we officially representing it. Things change daily on our show, so it would be almost impossible to supply the kind of information that these 'services' demand. It is better to simply hold back, and let the publicity department send out the information to the above listed areas in finalized form. As long as certain individuals continue to use these forums as an opportunity to unfairly criticize the show and destroy our attempts at protecting our stories, I doubt that the situation will change. We must protect our viewers as well. Again, thank you for your letter, and thank you for your interest. Sincerely, Richard Arnold Based on comments that he has made in the past, I think I have a pretty good idea of what his personal opinion of computer networks is. His letter was quite mild. I don't think that r.a.s.i. is the right place to air my reactions to his letter. I'll just say that I generally agree with his stance, and I'll let my r.a.s. tirade speak for itself. Jim -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Edited by Jim Griffith - the official scapegoat for r.a.s.i. Email submissions to trek-info@dweeb.fx.com, and questions to trek-info-request@dweeb.fx.com