h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Is it strippagrams?

RF

Not strippagrams. Not a live performance.

Anyone done voice overs yet?

>Anyone done voice overs yet?<

Yes. And that wasn't it.

Never named in the credits?

Is it something like Alfred Hitchcock appearing in his own films?

RF

You're getting closer Clive. Not never, but not always.

That's worth DGI +1

So under what conditions are they not listed?


Ah right....

RF - The elf giveth

Cameo performances - Correct +3
(I know you didn't say that, but it was close enough)

And the elf taketh away

Hitchcock - -5

Is that cameo as in Buster Keaton appearing with a couple of other 1930's stars playing cards in "Sunset Boulevard" or as in Marshall MacLuhan as himself in "Annie Hall"; or both?

And there is a nameable individual we can easily derive from the clue?

Seedy?

Alan Titchmarsh or Charlie Dimmock, to name but three?

The mist is clearing at last, thankfully.

Pebble - they are proper acting cameos - not just playing himself.

There should be enough clues to name the actual individual, but if you can't get there, it might help by trying to identify his normal job. There are points for that, though if someone gets the name first, there won't be points for his day job, because it'll be too easy.

Just as an incentive, it shouldn't be possible to trip any more klaxons from here. Just don't mention A***** H********.

No more klaxons? Wheres the incentive

He! Cameos plural.

Quentin Tarantino?

Stan Lee (He's been in just about every Marvel comic film adaptation)

No to both so far. I didn't realise Stan Lee had done so many.

Last guess Stephen King

Actors that died on set and had to be replaced half-way through filming.

Pebble has guessed correctly. Stephen King was the name I was after +3.

Doesn't seem worth all the effort, does it?

Stephen King has written more than 50 books, and has been a bestseller right from his very first (Carrie). However, film and TV producers seem to like him even more than readers - imdb currently lists 112 films and tv programmes based on his writing, with another 8 in pre-production.

As well as writing, King seems to enjoy getting his face up there on screen. imdb lists 17 appearances. I haven't done exhaustive research on whether other writers could match him, but the only one I could find with more than one or two appearances was Colin Dexter who was seen in 30 of the 33 Inspector Morse programmes (Hitchcock is also credited with 30 appearances). However, since Colin Dexter only ever played the one role (Self-Conscious Looking Bloke in Crowd), he is no match for King's repertoire of truck drivers, pizza guys and (my favourite) Man Swearing at ATM (in Maximum Overdrive).
(Clive pointed out Stan Lee, who has over 30. I'm sure there may be others)
He does not just appear in adaptations of his own work - George A Romero has found a part for him on several occasions, he had a voice only role in Frasier, and, of course, an appearance in the Simpsons. His apotheosis however must be in the portmanteau film "Creepshow". In the segment "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" he takes the title role, as a hick farmer who, after an unfortunate run-in with a meteorite, gradually turns into a plant (pretty seedy).
King has not just limited himself to acting. He directed Maximum Overdrive (don't bother hunting it down) and has worked as grip, stills photographer, and third unit director on various TV projects.

The title of this QI was not meant as a major clue, merely a cryptic allusion. "Windsor swing" gives you Castle Rock, a fictional town in Maine where many of King's stories are set. "Let's Roll" alludes to the film director's "Roll cameras".

Several of Stephen King's book titles were scattered throughout this thread, and I'm sure everyone found them a great help in arriving at the answer:

Post 48 - Carrie
Post 52 - Desperation
Post 57 - Insomnia
Post 59 - The Stand
Post 79 - The Dark Half
Post 83 - Desperation (is a theme developing?)
Post 110 - The Shining
Post 117 - The Regulators
Post 144 - Misery
Post 146 - Night Shift
Post 171 - The Mist

Post 39 had "Lost in the woods" which is basically the plot of The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.

King's novel "It" also got a few mentions.

Scores will be quite a bit later.

Phew!

Okay this is how I feel after that:

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