Bill and Ted's being called 'Homophobic'

[k_peek_2000]

I'm honestly kind of crushed right now. I've always loved the show and it's disheartening to see it being taken down like this.

It's completely unacceptable. Use your power as a journalist to let Universal know this isn't the way to handle these sorts of things.

 

[Alexshow.]

I have the feeling this is the begining of the end of bill and ted. I just feel this may of made universal consider of mabye butchering Bill and ted. Its not a true thing but sadly i just have the feeling that universal will not only scould the writers, but also the show would get scoulded aswell... Just crushed also of the news...

 

[Jon Fu]

It's completely unacceptable. Use your power as a journalist to let Universal know this isn't the way to handle these sorts of things.

We're going to draft a post this weekend that hopefully addresses the issue with careful consideration. We want to add to the conversation, not convolute it.


Having said that, I don't consider myself a journalist, and as much as I would love to say otherwise, Universal doesn't (and shouldn't) care what this site has to say. We're not even on their radar to say the least, and we're definitely not that influential. We want to have a voice - no doubt about it - but Universal isn't paying attention. That's just my pragmatic view on this.

 

[DarknessFalls]

I have the feeling this is the begining of the end of bill and ted. I just feel this may of made universal consider of mabye butchering Bill and ted. Its not a true thing but sadly i just have the feeling that universal will not only scould the writers, but also the show would get scoulded aswell... Just crushed also of the news...

I think you may be right, word is Uni has been taking a hard look at costs versus capacity on B&T (a similar fate befell the Grinchmas Tree Lighting and 5 Towers Tree show this year). I'd heard B&T might be on slightly shakey for next year anyway.

Makes me really sad, the show was always the highlight for HHN for me.

 

[Ryan]

It seems that live entertainment in California gets Universal into all sorts of trouble. Shame.

 

[William]

This is beyond ridiculous. I'm glad I got to see both versions of the show (raw and refined) before it was discontinued. I still can't believe such a silly article had this much influence.

 

[Alexshow.]

I'm going to bring this up as a example if Bill and ted does close down.... Chuckys insult emporium. It stayed for roughly 2 and a half HHN years and they canceled the show in the second half of HHN 2008. The reason was due to people felt they we're hurt during the show due to the insults the show throws at you. Slaughterworld mabye neighbors of the mountain side of Universal city in those suburbs just had enough noise coming from the hhn show during the 2008 run. correct me if i misdid slaughters cancellation. But those 2 are also great kick A fun and i see why they're canceled but i just hope i'm wrong for bill & ted's case.

 

[William]

I'm going to bring this up as a example if Bill and ted does close down.... Chuckys insult emporium. It stayed for roughly 2 and a half HHN years and they canceled the show in the second half of HHN 2008. The reason was due to people felt they we're hurt during the show due to the insults the show throws at you. Slaughterworld mabye neighbors of the mountain side of Universal city in those suburbs just had enough noise coming from the hhn show during the 2008 run. correct me if i misdid slaughters cancellation. But those 2 are also great kick A fun and i see why they're canceled but i just hope i'm wrong for bill & ted's case.

They still have Chucky's Insult Emporium (on a smaller scale) on Baker Street. If you're walking through the scarezone while he's out making comments, you're probably gonna be picked on. He made fun of me, but I still found the whole thing pretty darn funny.

Anyway, this whole thing was blown out of proportion. The show had excellent choreography, hilarious gags, and everything inbetween. It's meant to push the envelope, and those who aren't willing to witness it shouldn't be there in the first place. It didn't just poke fun at the gay community; it covered all the bases..! You don't see anyone getting upset over the insults made about black people, Angelenos, etc.

 

[Ryan]

I'd say more about hypersensitivity but it being California, why should anybody be shocked? 

Sigh, I think I'm more disappointed with the company for their actions than the writers. If anyone didn't catch it, Universal actually defended the show yesterday, claiming the satirical value, and said they'd refine it, but wouldn't shut it down. 24 hours later, as always the bosses wet their pants and maliciously shut everything down. This is pretty much the same thing that happened with the T-Rex BBQ... one higher-up disagreed with the presentation and the new wildly popular offering was thrown out of there very quickly. 

This is why we can't have nice things.

 

[Allen The Actor]

I'm speechless. Even though I didn't actually attend the event or show, I feel so bad for the fans of the show, as well as the entire cast and crew. It's truly not fair in every sense of the word. I'm curious if there's another part of the story that we don't know. Did that one ridiculous article REALLY shut down the entire show?! Is Universal really that cowardly? This really upsets me, especially considering there actually wasn't anything "phobic" about the show.

And honestly, was anyone complaining about the show besides that article?

To me, that article was like seeing a "smoking section" sign in a restaurant, choosing to sit in that section, and then complain that there's smoking....

 

[Ryan]

To me, that article was like seeing a "smoking section" sign in a restaurant, choosing to sit in that section, and then complain that there's smoking....

I'd agree with that, and it's an excellent point, but you're forgetting one thing: the writer didn't even see the show. They merely witnessed a short, 45 second clip and gathered a few tiny details (they thought that the entire event was the show, and wasn't even aware of HHN's existence), and rushed out some liberal PC attack on what they just witnessed. The angry commentators didn't see the show either. If they saw Knott's Hanging, I'm guessing they would have jumped off a cliff.

The point of shows like Bill & Ted and The Hanging is to be offensive, satirical and attack everyone. It would go too far, of course, if they start openly badmouthing gay marriage and their right to equality or something like that. But they didn't, they instead did some stereotyping humor which the audience clearly ate up because they're young and find this stuff funny. And like I keep freaking saying, a good chunk of those people are (wait for it) GAY. (gasp!!!) Wow, what's that? They're laughing at it? But shouldn't they find it OFFENSIVE?! No. Because they know what they're going into.

Universal clearly doesn't know how to handle a press disaster like this without just backing down like freaking cowards. And right after they defended the show, for shame. (according to twitter, a lot of the anger towards them for cancelling the show and laying people off is being deleted off their facebook since they just can't handle anything)

A lot of the Disney nutzos over at MiceChat are all sad today because their beloved Jungle Cruise is being given a small, cute holiday makeover that will last approximately two months. For some of them, that's the beginning of the end. And... okay... that's nuts but that's where their nutty ideals shall lie. But for me, this is a pretty terrible straw to break and I know this isn't Disney's jam but I have to imagine they'd handle something like this so much better. This is pretty sickening, and truly does lessen my opinion for the company.

 

[William]

This seems so out of the ordinary. Why couldn't they have just revised that bit of the show? The cast and crew put so much work into it, and they deserve their time in the spotlight. Color me dumbfounded.

 

[dawnerd]

I'm sad as well. I have a feeling there's something more going on that we don't know about. Maybe the guest surveys were really coming back that bad.

I was there Sunday at the 10:45(ish) show and when they did the Van Nuys joke the place was silent. Definitely not the reaction they got a few days prior.

On a side-note... does anyone know if the performers are on twitter? I'd love to pass along my praise to them.

 

[BruceTheShark]

I'm not surprised at all. This type of thing is typical these days. Everybody is afraid of a lawsuit and will bend over and take it from anybody threatening or complaining. It's embarrassing Universal pulled it and like mentioned, not fair to those who worked on and created the show. They probably saw it as a quick opportunity to save some cash. I'm starting to see that HHN is starting to become more about profit versus delivering a quality experience. (Aimed at corporate, not John Murdy or the creative teams). I bet Knotts is having a good laugh!

 

[Jon Fu]

I'm sad as well. I have a feeling there's something more going on that we don't know about. Maybe the guest surveys were really coming back that bad.

There most definitely is. I honestly don't think that blogger's single post shut the show down, but I do think his post was the straw that broke the camel's back.

 

[Ryan]

The guest surveys were certainly not very good for this year's show... so it is possible for Universal to call it out as a total disaster, but shutting it down right when the event is truly heating it up? What?

 

[William]

What were guests unhappy with this year??

 

[k_peek_2000]

I remember hearing that the first weekend or so BnT was the highest rated in USH history. Something had to have been happening outside of the public eye.

 

[Ryan]

...you mean lowest rated?

EDIT: AV Club throws in their two cents: http://www.avclub.com/articles/universal-studios-shuts-down-bill-and-ted-show-aft,104691/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_campaign=LinkPreview:1efault

It's funny that the smart, nerdy, hipster-driven blogs are finally discovering these shows because of course they're gonna hate them. And IMO, I wasn't a huge fan of Bill & Ted this year anyways (last year's was way better), some of the jokes got a little too offensive and stuff. But my god, nobody is just sitting there and really taking an outward glance at this to see that the audience is eating it up. They are the audience for this. 

My point is, if you wouldn't be caught dead at an event called Halloween Horror Nights, then shut the hell up and let people enjoy their stupid stuff.

 

[William]

Theme park shows don't usually make me laugh as hard as Bill & Ted did. Not only did I find it hilarious, but those performers were full of energy throughout the entire show. You could tell that they had a blast putting on such a great performance. I find it really sad for the entire thing to be butchered the way it did.