okay this is confusing and it's all fully explained by Douglas Adams in the begining intro to the ultimate hitchhiker's guide (all 5 books plus young zaphod plays it safe)
at any rate...
"The history of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is now so complicated that every time I tell it I condradict myself, and whenever I do get it right I'm misquoted. So the publication of this omnibus edition seemed like a good opportunity to set the record straight -- or at least firmly crooked.
(several paragraphs later...)
"The radio series began in England in March 1978. The first series consisted of six programs, or 'fits' as they were called. Fits 1 through 6. Easy. Later that year one more episode was recorded and broadcast commonly known as the Christmas Episode(...) ...it was first brodacast on December 24th (...) after that things began to get increasingly complicated.
"In the fall of 1979 the first Hithchiker book was published in England. (...) It was a substantially expanded version of the first four episodes of the raido series, in which some of the characters behaved in entirely different ways and others behaved in exactly the same ways but for entirely different reasons, which amounts to the same thing but saves rewriting dialogue.
"In January 1980, five new episodes of 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' were broadcast on BBC Radio, all in one week, bringing the total number to tweleve episodes.
"In the fall of 1980, the second Hitchhiker book was published in England, around the same time that Harmony Books pulished the first book in the United States. It was a very substantially reworked, reedited and contracted version of episodes 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 5 and 6 (in that order) of the radio series(...) called 'The Resturant at the End of the Universe', because it contained material from radio episode 5(...) which was set in a resturant called Milliways(...).
"In January 1982 Harmony Books published 'The Resturant at the End of the Universe' in the United States.
"In the summer of 1982, a third Hitchhiker book was published simultaneoulsy in England and the United States, called 'Life, the Universe, and Everything'. Theis was not based on anything that had already been heard oor see on radio or television. In fact it flatly contradicted episodes 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the radio series. (...)
"At this point I went to America to write a film screenplay which was completely inconsistent with most of what has gone on so far, and since that film was then delayed in the making( ( a rummor currently ahs it that filiming will start shortly before the Last Trump), I wrote a fourth and last book in the trilogy, 'So Long and Thanks for All the Fish'. This was published in Britain and the USA in the fall of 1984 and it effectively contradicted everything to date, up to and including itself.
"As if this all were not enough I wrote a computer game for Infocom called 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy' which bore only fleeting resemblances to anything that had previously gone under that title, and in collaboration with Geoffrey Perkins assembled 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Original Radio Scripts' (published in England and the USA in 1985). Now this was an interesting venture. The book is, as the title suggests, a collection of all the radio scripts, as broadcast, and it is therefore the only example of one Hitchhiker publication accurately and consistently reflecting another."
Stan Sez: I hope this helps, it was a bit confusing and i'm only paraphrasing bits and pieces from the introduction that DA gave in the omnibus edition.. which while it has Mostly Harmless in it, the introduction was copyrighted in 1986 but Mostly Harmless wasn't copyrighted until 1992.
Sorry for any misspelings and being choppy i'm just paraphrasing from what i've read.
If i've violated any copyright laws, lemme know and shake a finger at me. I won't do it again.
Peace
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NightBeforeAllSaints
18 years ago
Wow. REALLY good answer, thank you. *lol*
Alright, we've seen the "what?" and the "how?" here, but not the "why?". Why did Adams stop writing the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy novel right after they (rather conventionally) leave Magrathea? Why didn't the Restaurant at the End of the Universe novel end with Arthur's hijacking of the HoG?
I guess THESE questions can't be answered, seeing as how Douglas Adams is dead and all. :P *l*
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weird_beard
10 years ago
The first question CAN be answered. The publishers got completely fed up with Adams' legendary procrastination, and told him to finish the page he was on, and that someone would be over to pick it up. Also, Adams wasn't completely happy with some of the stuff in episodes five and six and heavily rewrote them.
Also, the second question can probably be answered, too. The radio series ended the way it did because they were sure there would be a third series very soon after and didn't want the headaches they had going from the Primary phase to the Secondary phase.
The book ended the way it did because, not for the last time, Adams was convinced that he'd seen the last of it.
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